12 Days of Cookies - day 3

Christmas is not complete without sugar cookies. They are a great family project - fun to make, decorate and eat together. And, for the purpose of illustration, let's pretend that this is not a pumpkin cookie, but rather something more Christmasy... like a tree.

Best Rolled Sugar Cookies
1 cups butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Cream butter, shortening and sugar together. Add eggs, one at a time and mix well. Sift in dry ingredients and combine. The dough should be stiff - add more flour if needed. Cover and chill for at least one hour. Chill the dough. You can chill too... make some hot chocolate or something.

Roll the dough out to your desired thickness. I like big, fat, puffy sugar cookies so I roll mine out to 1/4 inches. Cut the dough with your cookie cutters (this is a great place for the kids to help out) and transfer the shapes onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until the edges are slightly toasted. When cool, decorate and enjoy.

Buttercream icing recipe
Powdered sugar glaze recipe