Sam's Sugar Cookies and Quick White Icing

The Cookies:

Make 1.5 batches of these

Full Batch

Ingredients

3 sticks of butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups (800g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

nutmeg

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cover, and chill dough overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Half Batch

Ingredients

1.5 sticks of butter, softened
1 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2.5 cups (400g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

nutmeg

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cover, and chill dough overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

The Icing:

Quick White Icing (from The Joy of Cooking)

This is a double batch. If only making one batch of cookies, you’ll only need 1.5 batch of this icing.

In a medium bowl, beat together on medium speed:

4 cups (1 pound) powdered sugar

1 stick butter, softened, or 3 tablespoons hot heavy cream

Add and beat until smooth:

6 tablespoons to 1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt