Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.

In the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg, crushed vanilla beans and rose water.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a flattened circle. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until firm (at least two hours or overnight).

Remove from fridge and use a rolling pin to roll dough out to about ¼ inch thick - I use dough spacers shown in the photo above to get even cookies.

Cut into desired shapes and place on the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart. Place in freezer for about 3-5 minutes.

Remove from freezer, let rest 1 minute and then bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are a very light brown.

Let cool completely before decorating with icing.