Iced Sugar Cookies by Julie Vision in the Kitchen

Iced Sugar Cookies  (Yield - 3 dozen large cookies)

2 cups sugar

1 cup + 2 tablespoons shortening

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water

2 teaspoons vanilla

7 cups four

5 teaspoons baking powder

Step #1 - Preheat oven to 400*F.

Step #2 - Mix sugar, shortening, eggs and vanilla together.

Step #3 - In a separate bowl, mix flour and baking powder.  

Step #4 - Add the flour mixture to the sugar/egg mixture, alternating with the milk and water.

Step #5 - Chill dough. Chill for at least an hour, but you can chill the dough for a day or so before using it.  Make sure dough is covered when chilling.

Step #6 - Roll dough between two sheets of wax paper until 1/4 of an inch thick. Or, you can roll on a well floured surface, but the wax paper is WAY less of a mess, and, it helps make sure you don't end up drying out the cookies with too much extra flour being worked in.

 Step #7 - Using a well floured cookie cutter, cut out cookies and place on well greased or parchment covered cookie sheet. I like to put a little pile of flour on the counter by where I'm rolling the dough and just dip the cookie cutter in the flour between each cut.

Step #8 - Bake until set and the edges are just barely golden, but not browned. Time will depend on the size of cookie you cut. A 2.5 or 3 inch cookie will take about 8 minutes.  Do not let cookies brown, or they will be dry.  Remove from cookie sheet and let cool on a wire rack.

The Icing......

1 cup shortening

6 cups confectioners sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon clear almond extract

Mix all ingredients together with a mixer until smooth. If icing is too think, add a little extra milk; if it is too thin, add a little more sugar.  Add coloring of your choice and apply generously to cookies.