Christmas Cookies - One of Four - Icing Sugar Cookies

Tis the season to get your bake on. At least that is the way that I look at it. Heck, I’m probably going to put on a few extra pounds anyway, what is an additional one or two? I love to bake but with a new j.o.b. my extracurricular time is limited and some things just don’t make the priority list on a normal basis. So for Christmas this year my gift to friends was to put baking back on the priority list. I pulled a few already “can’t miss” recipes and a few other “let’s give ‘em a whirl.”

There is one cookie recipe that I’ve done every year for as far back as I can remember - Christmas, Easter or the occasional just because I am awesome and someone is begging for them. They are my famous (or soon-to-be-famous) icing sugar cookies. These babies are light, sweet and the almond flavor makes them addicting (Mmm almond). My mom loves these. I took a few to her house only to have my super cute niece and nephew eat almost all of them.

He actually helped too.

Icing Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

¾ cup butter flavor Crisco

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 ½ cup of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons almond extract

Directions:
Cream first three ingredients, sift all dry ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate for one hour. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough and cut into shapes of your choosing. Bake for about eight minutes, till the edges are lightly golden. Cool completely.

Icing Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
About 1 tablespoon water (you want consistency to flow minimally)
Food coloring, if desired

Mix powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. Stir in water until smooth and of spreading consistency. Tint with food coloring.

I use a sealable plastic bag to pipe and decorate my cookies. This girl isn’t that fancy.