Easter cookie recipe

This is the BEST sugar cookie recipe I could find- no chilling the dough, cookies kept their shape when baked, soft and flavourful, perfect for decorating.
& comes together quickly.
It does NOT need to be chilled.
It can be doubled easily.
It holds its shape with very little expanding when baked.
The recipe I am giving you makes a large batch of dough because I like to bake a lot of cookies. Also I like to roll and cut my cookies fairly thick…to hold a lot of frosting. Incorporating the last cup of flour may make you nervous. It will be dry and look crumbly. Turn out the dough and work with wet hands until the dough is smooth and ready to roll.

Ingredients:

1 Cup butter, softened

1 Cup granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 egg

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups all purpose flour

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• In the bowl of your mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth.
• Beat in extracts and egg.
• In a separate bowl combine baking powder with flour and add a little at a time to the wet ingredients. The dough will be very stiff. If it becomes too stiff for your mixer turn out the dough onto a countertop surface. Wet your hands and finish off kneading the dough by hand.
• DO NOT CHILL THE DOUGH. Divide into workable batches, roll out onto a floured surface and cut. You want these cookies to be on the thicker side (closer to 1/4 inch rather than 1/8).
• Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.

Notes:

• PLEASE NOTE: This recipe has been edited to make a smaller batch than originally published to accommodate the size of stand mixer that most people own. The original recipe was this exact recipe just doubled proportions.
• If you must chill the dough just leave it on the countertop for 10 minutes before rolling or work the dough with your hands for a few minutes.
• You can omit the almond extract if you do not have it available, however the taste is really fantastic with the hint of almond.
• Keep in mind that the recipe yield will vary according to how thick you roll your cookies and how large or small your cutters are.

Icing cookies on another post....

Original recipe and images © In Katrina's Kitchen