Shortbread Sugar Cookies With Icing

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• food coloring, if desired

Recipe

• 1 line cookie sheets with parchment paper or generously spray with non stick spray.
• 2 using a hand mixer or stand mixer, mix butter and sugar until fluffy. add vanilla and beat until combined.
• 3 in a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder. add slowly to butter mixture on low speed. do not overbeat! only mix until flour is incorporated.
• 4 form dough into big ball and place in plastic wrap. refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• 5 preheat your oven to 350 degrees. roll out chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness. cut with cookie cutter or you can use a pizza cutter and make squares or rectangles. another option is to roll into a log and cut 1/4 inch thick slices.
• 6 using a spatula, transfer to cookie sheets leaving about 1/2 inch between cookies.
• 7 bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. cool 10 minutes on cookie sheet and then transfer to cooling rack.
• 8 when cookies are cool, whisk together the icing ingredients and either dip the cookies or spread on cookies. you can smooth the icing with the back of a spoon.
• 9 these are so good -- you should really double the recipe!