Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line one or two shallow baking pans/cookie sheets with some parchment paper (or simply lay it atop the cookie sheet). Set aside for the moment.

In an electric mixer, using the beating attachment, beat the butter and vanilla until it reaches a smooth consistency. (This may take a minute and you may have to scrape the sides of the bowl one or two times)

While waiting for your butter to smooth, combine the flour and sugar in a small mixing bowl with a whisk.

Stop the mixer and scrape the butter/vanilla mixture off of the beating paddle - as much as possible - and switch it to the whisk attachment. Scrape the sides of the bowl and then turn back on the mixer to first a low setting and gradually increase the speed until you reach the middle setting (or medium speed). Allow the mixer to go at this speed for about five minutes or until the butter has become a lighter color and fluffs up a good bit.

While keeping the mixer running and using a standard table spoon (not a measure tablespoon) slowly incorporated the dry ingredients with the whipped butter spoon by spoon until you have used all of the combined dry ingredients.

Fill a piping bag/icing tool with the whipped dough. (You can use a Ziploc bag with a corner snipped off if you don't have anything else)

With the filled piping bag/icing tool, you will be piping the dough directly onto the parchment-lined baking pans/cookie sheets in an oval about one and one half to two inches in length (1-1/2 - 2") and one to one and one half inches wide (1 - 1-1/2") starting from the outside moving inward so you end up with a slight peak near the center top or bottom of the oval. Make sure to place each piped cookie at least one inch (1") apart on the pans/sheets, though they shouldn't spread much if at all.

Once you've filled your pans/sheets, place them on wracks close to the middle of your oven so the heat from the top and bottom should hit the pans/sheets evenly. Bake the cookies for about thirteen to fifteen minutes (13-15m) depending on your oven. When the bottom edges of the cookies are just beginning to lightly brown, pull them out and let them cool on the pans/sheets.

These cookies are exceptionally fragile if you attempt to move them before they are completely cooled, so I would give it about five to ten minutes before attempting to move them to a cooling wrack. You can eat these cookies just as they are or you can sandwich a chocolate ganache or creme between two of them like a Milano cookie. These are great cookies and not terribly sweet so you can have them with coffee or tea.