For all the people that said Gourmet had gotten too fancy and fell out of touch with its readers, I have three words: basic butter cookies. While combing Epicurious online, this recipe was listed as an ingredient in many of Gourmet's other cookie recipes. I was torn between a savory bread pudding and this recipe to kick off the official launch of our little project here at Gourmet, unbound. Olga was my tie breaker. The more I thought about it, this recipe was a perfect beginning. It's going back to the basics, and a reminder that ingredients do not need to be exotic—it's what you do with them that makes the difference.