sugar cookies

I love to have at least one batch of baked goods under my dessert dome all the time.
Whether it be muffins, banana bread, cookies, brownies, squares, pie or...
(You get the point)
I do this mostly because my husband likes the snacks, it's nice to have something homemade when the kids get their one treat of the day after dinner, and it's nice when someone's coming over and you have something prepared.
That all being said, my favorite cookie ever most definitely goes to the
sugar cookie.

Here's the recipe (adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups butter, softened - you can sub margerine if needed!
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. The original recipe calls for it to be chilled for an hour. I do not do this! I'm impatient, remember?

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter, in my case, a heart. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. For me, I prefer it around 6 minutes so it's very lightly browned and very soft still. Cool completely before icing.

Icing

1/2 cup shortening
teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (or more depending on your taste) confectioner's sugar
splash of milk - add until you like the consistency of the icing

I love this icing for these cookies, because it's not overwhelmingly sweet. By using just shortening, it stays whiter and is less costly to make. You can always sweeten it up with more icing sugar, or less!

Make these with your family and enjoy :)

Sarah.