Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
1 cup sugar
1 cup margarine or butter, softened
3 oz. package of cream cheese
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk (reserve white)
2 cups all purpose flour

Blend together sugar, margarine, cream cheese, salt, almond extract, vanilla, and egg yolk with mixer. Mix in flour until well blended.
Roll into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for two hours.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough, one third at a time, on a lightly floured surface. Using a cookie cutter dipped in flour, cut out cookies as close together as possible.
Place the cookies one inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. To prevent breaking, move cookies to and from baking sheets with a wide spatula or pancake turner.
Leave cookies plain or, if desired, brush with slightly beaten egg white and spring with colored sugar.
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies are a light golden brown. Cool completely.


Almond Glaze:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/4 tsp. almond extract
2 Tb. water
4 drops of food coloring
Stir all ingredients until smooth.
Pour 1 teaspoon of glaze on each sugar cookie. Use the back of the teaspoon to spread glaze evenly over cookie. Let glaze dry.

Very Basic Sugar Cookie

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup sugar

1 large egg

¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

frosting and nonpareilis for decorating

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth, about two minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. On low-speed, beat in flour mixture until just combined. Divide dough in half and form each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Heat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk to order inch thickness. Using a 2 inch tree shaped cookie cutter, cut out shapes. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes and tell lightly golden around the edges. Remove cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining half of dough gather scraps and refrigerate reroll and cut into additional trees. Bake in cool as above. Decorate the frosting and nonpareilis when dry cookies may be stored in an airtight container up to two weeks.

makes three dozen