Heavenly Sugar Cookies

Heavenly Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
10 tablespoons butter (softened)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
Frosting of your choice
Clear nylon fishing line (optional)

Directions
In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, butter, baking powder, and salt with an
electric mixer at low speed until blended. Increase speed to high and beat
until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add milk, vanilla extract, and
egg then beat until blended. Don’t worry if mixture looks curdled.
Stir in flour until blended. Shape dough into 2 balls, flatten each slightly.
Wrap each with plastic wrap and refrigerate for1 hour or until dough is easy
to handle.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, with floured
rolling pin, roll 1 piece of dough 1/8 inch thick, keeping remaining dough
refrigerated. With floured 3- to 4-inch assorted cookie cutters, cut dough
into as many cookies as possible, reserve trimmings. Place cookies, about
1 inch apart, on 2 ungreased large cookie sheets. Roll trimmings and cut
out more cookies.
(Optional) With a toothpick make 1 or 2 holes in top of each cookie for
hanging on wreath or tree later.

Bake cookies 12 to 15 minutes until golden around edges, rotating cookie
sheets between upper and lower racks halfway through baking time if you
have used both upper and lower oven racks. Remove cookies to wire racks
to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.
When cookies are cool, prepare frosting and use to decorate cookies as
desired. Set cookies aside to allow frosting to dry completely, at least 1
hour. If not using right away, store in tightly covered container.
For wreath or tree decoration, tie nylon fishing line through hole in each
cookie to make a loop for hanging.