Saffron Sablés

Preheat the oven to 325°. In a small bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda and salt.

In a bowl, crumble the saffron into the vanilla extract. Beat in the butter until creamy. Beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the flour mixture. Pat the dough into a 6-inch disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until chilled.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough a scant 3/8 inch thick. Using a floured 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter, stamp out as many cookies as possible. Carefully transfer the cookies to parchment paper-lined baking sheets, leaving 1 inch of space between them. Reroll the scraps, chill and stamp out more cookies. Bake the cookies 1 sheet at a time until lightly browned around the edges, about 16 minutes. Let cool slightly, then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.