Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Why I Love This Recipe
This is not grandmas recipe for old-fashioned sugar cookies. Not that there was anything wrong with that. But when you add cream cheese to a sugar cookie it adds a sweet and fluffy texture to them that grandmas cookies never had!
Ingredients You'll Need
1 Cup Butter (softened)
1 8-Ounce Package Cream Cheese (softened)
3 1/2 Cups Flour
2 Cups Sugar
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
Directions
Cut Butter and Cream Cheese into pieces (no specific size, just smaller so that its easier for the mixer to break down)
Mix Butter, Cream Cheese and Sugar together until light and fluffy
Add Egg and Vanilla
Continue to Mix until combined
Add Baking Powder
Add Flour in small amounts until completely mixed in
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 1 hour
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Spray cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray
On a floured surface, roll the cookies to a desired thickness. I normally roll my to about 3/4 of an inch to make a thicker cookie but I know some of my friends like a crispier cookie and roll them thiner to 1/2 inch.
Cut out designs
Place cookies about 2 inches apart on cookie sheets
Bake for 8-10 minutes
I normally bake for a shorter time, until the bottoms are slightly brown and the tops are done but still soft to the touch so that the cookies have a cakey texture. If you want a crispier cookie, bake longer
Remove and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely
Decorator Icing:
There are many variations on decorator icing. This is the one that I learned in my cake decorating class and it works well for me. Note that if you want to ensure that you have white frosting, substitue normal shortending for the butter flavored I mention below. The flavorings/candy oil mentioned can be purchased at Michaels or Hobby Lobby.
1 1/2 Cups Butter Flavored Shortening
1/4 Cup Water
1 Package Powder Sugar (2lbs)
2 Tablespoons Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Butter Flavoring
3-4 Drops LorAnn Candy Oil (I use Raspberry or Bubble Gum Flavor)
Place Shortening, Water
