Rolled Sugar Cookies

The finished product!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface and rolling
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl; set aside.
2. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until smooth, 1 minute. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, and mix until combined. Stir in vanilla.
3. Transfer dough to a medium-large piece of plastic wrap. Wrap dough and refrigerate until cold, about 45 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds.
5. Take dough out of fridge and break into 4 or 5 equal segments. Knead segment in your hands to warm it up a bit. Roll out dough on a lightly-floured surface to a little more than 1/8 inch thick. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters or knife. Using a metal spatula, space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Reroll scraps, and cut.
6. Bake cookies until edges are just starting to turn pale golden brown, about 11 to 12 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown, or they will become very hard. Let cool about 2-3 minutes on the sheets then transfer, using a metal spatula to remove cookies from parchment, to wire racks.
7. Leave cookie plain or decorate how you see fit.

Waiting to go in the oven



All decorated and ready for eating!

Tips

~ An electric stand mixer works best for this recipe, but an electric hand-held model could work too.

~ Keep an eye on the cookies. Take them out AS SOON as they start to brown slightly. This (and letting them partially cool on the cookie sheet) is the secret to CHEWY cookies.