Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe--a melt in your mouth slightly crispy and buttery cookie that tastes great with frosting.  It makes about 2-3 dozen cookies.   This egg-free version is great for when kids snitch a bit of dough.  We almost always make heart-shaped cookies with pink frosting for Valentine's Day. Adapted from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Sugar Cookie Dough

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup superfine sugar (or 1 cup of granulated sugar processed in a food processor for 30 seconds)

1/4 teaspoon salt

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) of butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and softened

2 tablespoons of cream cheese, softened*

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whisk the flour, sugar, & salt together in a large bowl.  Beat the butter into the flour mixture one to two pieces at a time with a mixer on medium-low speed.  Continue to mix until the mixture looks crumbly and slightly wet 1-2 minutes.  Beat in the cream cheese and vanilla until the mixture forms a nice dough.  

Turn the dough onto a clean counter, divide in half.  (If the dough is too soft to work with, you can flatten it into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and put in the fridge for 30 minutes).  Roll each half of the dough between 2 sheets of parchment or waxed paper until 1/4 inch thick.  Put rolled dough onto a baking sheet and refrigerate again until firm (at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours).

Preheat over to 375.  Working with one half of the dough at a time, cut out shapes using cookie cutters.  If the dough gets too soft, re-roll it and return to the fridge.  Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart.  Bake until just barely turning a light golden brown 7-9 minutes (do not overbake).  Let the cookies cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely (at least 30 minutes before frosting).  

Sugar cookie frosting

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

2-3 T milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or you can do 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon almond)

Cream together 1 cup of sugar and butter until smooth.  Add milk and extract.  Gradually add the last cup of sugar while mixing until creamy and light, scraping down the sides as needed.  

*The egg version of this recipe uses 1 egg and 1 egg yolk (beaten) instead of 2 T cream cheese.