Merry Christmas!

My daughter really wanted to make cut-out sugar cookies for Christmas, so we made these yesterday on Christmas Eve.  Then the whole fam got involved in frosting and decorating them.  It was a good time! This is a recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  I just used a regular buttercream for the frosting.  One thing Mel mentioned was to make sure you don't roll these out too thin or they won't be very good.  I rolled some out thicker than I thought I should and those were the best.  These are so good with frosting! It's been years since I made roll-out cookies but these weren't as hard as I thought they'd be. 

Roll-Out Sugar Cookies
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Makes: a lot!! 

Cookies:

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks, 12 ounces) butter, softened to cool room temperature
1 1/2 cups (11.25 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (2 ounces) powdered sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
5 cups (25 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Buttercream Frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter

2 pounds powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

milk, to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees (if baking right away).  In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, and almond extract; mix. Add two cups flour, baking powder and salt. Mix. Add remaining flour and mix just until flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth and soft.

2.  The dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and kept in the refrigerator for up to a week or it can be rolled out right away (if it seems too sticky add another 1/4 cup flour or refrigerate for an hour or so-I opted to refrigerate). Dust a counter with powdered sugar or flour and roll the dough to desired thickness (1/4-inch, maybe even slightly thicker than that). Cut the dough into shapes. (Re-rolling the scraps is fine.) Place the cookies on a lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes.  The cookies won’t appear browned on top (or on bottom) when they are done baking so don’t let them overbake! If the first batch is even slightly browned on the top or bottom, decrease the bake time by 30-60 seconds. 

3.  Cool the cookies completely on a wire rack before frosting. The baked cookies (unfrosted) can be stored in a tupperware or ziploc bag in the freezer for up to a month. (There are more freezing instructions on the original recipe. I've never frozen these.)

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