Perfect Cut Out Sugar Cookies

Every year my mom & I have a day where we bake sweet & savory treats to give out at Christmas. We usually try and decorate cookies but most of the time they lose their shapes and you can’t tell what they are. We’ve been searching for a good recipe and I finally found a recipe that’s a keeper! These Perfect Cut Out Sugar Cookies are Soft & Chewy and don’t lose their shape! Perfect for cutting out & decorating for any holiday! We like to decorate ours with colored sugars and sprinkles, but you can also bake them first and then ice them and decorate them that way. Sophie had such a blast helping cut these out and decorating (which is why they may look a little crazy haha!).

Perfect Cut Out Sugar Cookies 
Source: its-fitting.com

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract (optional)
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add butter & sugar and beat together until creamy. Add in eggs, vanilla & almond extract and beat until fully incorporated.

In a separate medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder & salt.

Gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture and beat until just incorporated.

Roll dough into a large disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 3 hours.

Once dough has chilled preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

Lightly sprinkle a clean surface with confectioners sugar (can also use flour but i like to use the conf. sugar so it doesn’t give the dough a floury taste). Roll dough out and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies on prepared cookie sheets.

At this point you can decorate with colored sugars & sprinkles or go ahead and bake if you are going to ice them after.

If using sugars, after decorating place on cookie sheets placing them 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes until set and barely golden around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool for just a minute on cookie sheets then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Ice cookies if you didn’t decorate with sugars & sprinkles. Store in an airtight container.