Old-Fashioned Butter Cookies

If I had time to bake only one cookie over the holidays – I would bake Old-Fashioned Butter Cookies!  This recipe is a family favorite and one I remember baking with my mom.  The dough is very easy to roll out, perfect for cut-out cookies.  

 

Old-Fashioned Butter Cookies

the perfect recipe to use with cookie cutters - perfect for your plate of cookies for Santa!

Servings 5 dozen

Ingredients

  • Cookie Dough
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Frosting
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 tablespoons milk

Instructions

  1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Cream butter.  Gradually add the sugar and cream well.  Stir in the egg, milk and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients gradually and mix well.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.  Divide dough into three parts.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Roll our onto floured work surface to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut with cookie cutters and place on parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 5 - 8 minutes until delicately brown.  Remove cookies to rack to cool.  To prepare frosting, cream together butter, vanilla and powdered sugar.  Add milk and beat until light and fluffy.  I like to drizzle the frosting, so I add a bit more milk for a thinner consistency.  Frost cookies as desired.  I sprinkle my cookies with vanilla sugar after drizzling with the frosting.  Let cookies sit at room temperature until the frosting has hardened.  Store in air tight containers