Good Housekeeping's Classic Sugar Cookie

Total Time: 1 hr 42 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr 30 mins Cook Time: 12 mins

Ingredients

• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups butter, softened, no substitutions (4 sticks)
• 3 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• frosting (store bought or homemade)

Recipe

• 1 in a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. in a separate large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and sugar until blended. on high speed, beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. on low speed, beat in eggs and vanilla, then flour mixture just until blended, scraping bowl with a rubber spatula.
• 2 divide dough into 8 equal pieces; flatten each into a disk. wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• 3 preheat oven to 350 degrees. on floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll 1 piece of dough to scant 1/4-inch thickness; keep remaining dough cold. with floured 3- to 4-inch cookie cutters, cut dough into as many cookies as possible; reserve trimmings. place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• 4 bake until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. with wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire racks to cool. repeat with remaining dough and trimmings.
• 5 when cookies are cool, prepare frosting and decorate cookies. allow frosting to dry. store cookies in tightly sealed containers with waxed paper between layers, at room temperature up to 2 weeks or in freezer up to 3 months.