Anytime Rolled White Cookies

Ingredients

Cookies:
3 Cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
pinch salt
1 Cup (2 sticks) margarine or butter, cold
1 1/3 Cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. PURE VANILLA or ALMOND EXTRACT (or 1 tsp. VANILLA EXTRACT plus 1/2 tsp. ALMOND EXTRACT
colored sugar or CINNAMON SUGAR, optional

Icing:
2 Cups powdered sugar
pinch salt
2-6 TB water or milk (depending on how thick you want it)
1/4 tsp. PURE VANILLA or ALMOND EXTRACT
food coloring, if desired

double or triple the recipe depending on how much icing you prefer

Directions

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cut the margarine/butter into bits, add to the flour in the bowl, and rub between your fingers or use two forks to combine as for a pie crust. This will make the cookies super tender. In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar, eggs and VANILLA/ALMOND EXTRACT. Add to the flour/butter mixture and mix on low until combined. If the dough is sticky, chill before rolling out. We chilled our dough for 3 hours and it handled perfectly.

Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly-floured surface, roll out the dough to your desired thickness. Cut with cookie cutters or use a cookie stamp. If you are not going to ice the cookies you may sprinkle them with colored sugar or CINNAMON SUGAR. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350° for 6-10 minutes, depending on the thickness and size of the cookies. The cookies should be fully baked but not brown--just starting to turn gold on the edges. Let cool before decorating with icing. Because the cookies are so tender, handle them carefully, especially if you made large cookies like our VW buses!

For the icing: sift the powdered sugar and salt into a bowl. Add enough water/milk and the VANILLA until the icing is your desired consistency. Divide into portions and add food coloring as desired..

Prep. time: 30 minutes plus chilling time
Baking time: 6-10 minutes per sheet
Yield: about 48 cookies, depending on your cookie cutters

Nutritional Information