Deluxe Sugar Cookies

By Foodiewife

I have been baking this recipe for sugar cookies for 30 years, and it's my my absolutely favorite. I think it's the powdered sugar that makes these extra tender. Sometimes, I frost (or pipe) these with butter cream icing, but now that I've found an easy glaze frosting, it's less work and looks pretty, too. Recipes comes from Betty Crocker. Please click on the recipe source to see how I made these on my food blog "A Feast for the Eyes".

Ingredients

• COOKIES:
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• GLAZE:
• 2 1/4 cups (9-ounces) confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 tablespoons (1 1/- ounces) light corn syrup
• 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon milk (3/4 to 1 1/8-ounces)
• Food coloring (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Mix powdered sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and almond extract.
Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar.
Note: I make mine in my stand mixer.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Or, you can freeze this dough up to 3 months.

Bake:
Heat oven to 350°F. Divide dough into halves. Roll each half about 3/6-inch thick on a lightly floured surface, making sure to add flour to your rolling pin.

Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet (I use parchment paper).

Bake until edges are light brown, 9 to 11 minutes.

Allow to cool completely. Frost and decorate as desired.

Easy glaze:
I prefer to measure the ingredients in ounces, with a scale, so I've provided volume measurements as well.

Using a fine mesh sieve, I whisk the powdered sugar into a bowl to get rid of any lumps. This makes for a very smooth glaze.

Mix all of the ingredients together. Stir until smooth; a fork works fine, but a whisk is best.

The glaze should be thick, but soft enough to "settle" when you spread it. If the glaze is too thick, dribble in another teaspoon of milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

Add food color, if you like; gel paste food colors are preferable, as they yield vibrant color, and don't alter the liquid/sugar ratio as regular food colors might.

There are different ways you can apply the glaze to cookies. I took the easy route and spooned the frosting. A zip-loc bag could be come a disposable bag, with a small corner cut out. You can then outline the shape of the cookie, and then "flood" it in with more frosting.

Allow at least 2 hours for the frosting to set. Just don't lay the glaze on too thick. If you want to add sprinkles, add them right on top of the glaze, before it sets.