Decorated Sugar Cookies

Upcoming post contains sugar and gluten. This recipe is not paleo, primal, or any other kind of healthy.  BUT…it IS a good ol’ fashioned decorated sugar cookie that I’ve been making for many years and it has been a family tradition around our house to bake and decorate these at every holiday!  So sometimes, tradition trumps nutrition.

Traditions are the threads that weave family stories together.  They become part of us and keep us connected to one another.  My kids always look forward to our decorating sessions and even as they are grown, we still continue to make time for this!

So while eating cookies aren’t necessarily part of a healthy lifestyle, creating something delicious, unique and fun for a special occasion truly makes life sweet and everyone needs that from time to time!  And you will come back to this recipe time and again.
​*(If you are gluten free, you can certainly sub out the regular flour for a gluten free alternative.  My favorite is Cup 4 Cup which you can find on Amazon and at other specialty stores.)

Ingredients

1 C. butter
1 C. sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t almond extract
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
3 cup flour

Instructions

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add egg and blend. Add vanilla and almond extracts and blend. Add baking powder and salt, and then add the flour 1 cup at a time and blend after each addition. Dough should come together in a big ball. Roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters. Place cut cookies on cookie sheet (I like the insulated, Air Bake pans) topped with parchment paper for best results. Bake at 325 about 8-10 minutes or until edges are brown. Cool on cooling racks.

Notes

Powdered Sugar Icing
4 C. powdered sugar
2-3 T. corn syrup
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 – 1 t. almond extract (depending on how strong you like the almond flavor)
4-7 T. water or enough to make the icing the consistency you want.
Decorator food coloring

Put powdered sugar in a big bowl. Add corn syrup, vanilla and almond extracts and 4 T. water. Stir until icing starts coming together. Add water 1 T. at a time to get a thick icing that is spreadable but not runny. See videos below for tips on how to roll out the cookies with ease and how to make the icing.

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