Sugar Cookies

At work we decided to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas by bringing in a treat each day. I signed up for Sugar Cookies for some odd reason. As I recently learned I'm no Martha, so why in the world I would volunteer to bake and decorate sugar cookies is beyond me. I spent the day last Sunday baking and decorating these bad boys. I think I made around 50 and only half of them were decent enough to take out of my house and show people besides my husband.

Sugar Cookies
found on: Good Things Catered
originally from: A Year in the Kitchen




Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp lemon zest
5 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Powdered sugar, for rolling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream butter and sugars in a mixer for 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly. Add vanilla, almond, and lemon zest. Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt a little at a time. Do not over mix, this process should take about one minute. Chill dough for up to a week in the fridge, or roll out and cut right away. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake cookies for 7-8 minutes. Wait until cookies are cooled before icing.

I used a powder sugar/water icing, royal icing, and sprinkles to decorate.