Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread (Beep's Favorite Cookie)

This recipe has very few ingredients and whenever you are faced with this, may I make one small request/recommendation . . . USE THE BEST PRODUCTS. Spending a little more for quality ingredients will make all the difference. Butter and vanilla are key ingredients here. I received this recipe from my friend Carole (from whom I receive so many amazing recipes and ideas) and it quickly became ONE of Beep's faves. I wish I could give credit to the cookbook, but I only have a faxed copy, so if I find out I will include that information at a later date. This is another cookie that freezes well. I love having an assortment of ready-to-bake cookies bagged and in the freezer. Quick to stir together by hand or in a mixer and easy to slice and bake these cookies are perfect for the novice baker!

Ingredients:
1 C toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature (use the best you can find)
2/3 C light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 C flour (I use King Arthur UN-bleached)
1/4 tsp. salt
Yield: about 4 dozen cookies
Mixing the Dough:

Beat together the butter and brown sugar, no lumps of sugar or streaks of butter should be visible. Stir in the vanilla.
Mix together the flour and salt in a separate bowl and then stir into butter mixture. Once the flour is completely incorporated, stir in the pecans.
Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, and form it into a 4 1/2 by 6-inch rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour. You will want the dough to be well chilled so the cookies cut easily. You can also cut and freeze cookies to bake in smaller batches.
Cut the dough lengthwise in half, you should now have two blocks approximately 2 inches by 6. Now cut 1/4 inch thick cookies from each of those blocks, you will have a rectangular cookie 2x1 inch shape.

Bake:
Place sliced cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Rotate pans half way through cooking if you are baking more than one sheet. The cookies should be golden and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container.