The Ultimate Sugar Cookie

As Kathleen mentioned in Pumpkin News, I've been keeping myself busy with Christmas cookies here lately. It has long been a desire of mine to find the "perfect" sugar cookie recipe and I have to say - this year's is as close as I've ever come. These cookies are soft and plump, stand up to icing with no breaking and are VERY tasty. Even better, they seem to stand up to being stored without losing their softness (not that they seem to be hanging around very long here.)

I made the first batch a few days ago and then made some more with Lily yesterday. It's a much messier process with a two-year-old and several cookies didn't make it to the oven due to just a little too much touching, but all in all, we had a good time and they turned out remarkably well.

And since this is the season of sharing and I'm sure there must be a few of you out there looking for a good recipe, I thought I'd pass this one along. Enjoy!

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1.5 cups butter (or margarine) softened
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Cream together sugar and butter until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt. Cover and refrigerate dough (at least one hour, but I left it in there for about 3.)

Roll out on floured surface to approximately 1/2 inch thick. Cut out shapes as desired.

Bake at 400 degrees on ungreased cookie sheet for 8 minutes.