Perfect Rolled Sugar Cookies

    Life got a little crazy for a few months. Between my grandmother's chemo treatments, End of the school year activities for my children, and a few health issues of my own, I have not had time to blog! But I am back and hopefully we can get this ball rolling again!
    This past week I had the opportunity to bake iced sugar cookies for a wedding. That is an experience I will not soon forget. They turned out very light and buttery, and by far the best sugar cookie I had ever tasted. And that is saying a lot because I am not personally a fan of sugar cookies! They held their shape nicely, so they would be perfect for Christmas cookies, when you want to make all of the cute little shapes. The dough does have to be chilled for at least an hour before it is baked, so this isn't a 'last minute' type of cookie.

What you will need:
2/3 Cup butter flavored shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
4 teaspoons milk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (or pre-sifted cake flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream together sugar, shortening and vanilla. Add egg. Beat until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in milk. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Slowly blend the dry ingredients into the creamed  mixture. Cover dough and chill for at least one hour.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Divide the dough in half and roll one half out on a lightly floured surface. If you have wax paper, you can roll the dough out between two pieces of wax paper rather than on a floured surface and save a mess. Keep the other half of the dough refrigerated until you are ready to roll it out. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters and place onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 6-8 minutes, and allow to cool before removing from the pan. This recipe makes about 2 dozen depending on the size and thickness of the cookie.

For best results, allow your pan to completely cool before putting another batch of cookies on it and into the oven. This helps make sure your cookies do not spread before they bake.