Sugar Cookies - to die for

I'm not doing a Friday Favourite this week, being Christmas Day, and all! But I'm sharing a recipe I made last week, just a little early instead. These were a huge hit at our Christmas celebration on the weekend, and I cannot wait to make them again. We hosted hubbies family for Christmas yesterday (15 of us, 9 kids) and these are all that is left from yesterday! I think I must have made around 40-50 biscuits in the shape of Christmas Trees and Stars.

3 1/2 cups plain flour

good pinch salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

225g unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or 3 teaspoons vanilla essence

Icing

2 large egg whites

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 cups icing sugar, sifted

Method:

1. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.

3. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll. (I actually made it on Thursday, then wrapped it, refrigerated it, and made them on Saturday. Needed an hour on the bench to 'warm up' a little to knead each half to be pliable enough to roll).

4. Preheat oven to 180. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

5. Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1 cm. (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter.) Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet.

6. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking. Note: If you are not going to ice the baked cookies, you may want to decorate with coloured sugar, silver cachous etc.

7.Bake cookies for about 10 minutes (depending on size) or until they are brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Ice, if desired, and allow to dry completely before storing between layers of baking paper.

Icing:

1. Beat the egg whites with the lemon juice (will be a smooth, slightly volumous mass, but not to peaks). Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth. The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as it will harden when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.

2. Ice and decorate cookies!