Sugar Cookies {to go along with Glacé Icing}

*Note Added 6/2/2011: I've had a few people ask about my CTR shaped cookie cutter, look below for pictures and an explanation of how it was done.

Some people like sugar cookies soft and others like a harder cookie. I like both. Here is a recipe for a great crisp and buttery sugar cookie. But they can also be made thick n' chewy - just depends on how thick you roll out the dough (and the baking time will vary just slightly depending on how thick you roll them out).

I used this recipe to make my CTR cookies with Glacé Icing - I rolled them thin. And the recipe made 30 CTR shaped cookies. So that just gives you an idea of how much dough you'll want to make.



Sugar Cookies

1 cup real butter (no substitutions!)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp extract (almond, vanilla, etc - use same extract flavor in Glacé Icing)
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy- about 2 minutes. Add in egg and extract and mix thoroughly.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. An important note: It’s critical to measure your flour correctly or you will end up with a dry, crumbly dough/cookie. Never use your measuring cup to scoop up flour. Use a spoon and spoon the flour into the cup and then level it off with a flat edge.

Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture and mix until combined.

Chill the dough in the fridge for about an hour, or use this great tip from ourbestbites.com to make things easier:

When your dough is made, instead of putting it in the fridge, immediately roll between 2 sheets of waxed or parchment paper and then place on a flat surface in the fridge. Chill for about 20-30 minutes and then start cutting it out. This way it chills faster and the bonus is that you don’t need to add extra flour to roll it out. If you don’t use this tip, proceed as follows:

When you’re ready to roll out dough lightly sprinkle flour onto your work surface and roll out dough with a rolling pin.

Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes. The baking time depends on how you like them. If you like them thick and chewy then 8-9 minutes does it. If you like them crisp and buttery, then 10-12 minutes does the trick.

Cool before frosting! Enjoy!

Recipe Source: www.ourbestbites.com

CTR-Shaped Cookie Cutter
My mom is a clever lady and she made this CTR-shaped cookie cutter. I haven't been able to find one online that you can buy, but if anyone finds one and wants to share in the comments, we'd love to know.

My mom took a small pineapple tid-bits can that was about 2 inches tall and cut both ends off of it. Then with some pliers she bent it into the CTR shield shape.