These soft baked sugar cookies are just like you get from the grocery store. You know the ones – they come loaded with frosting and sprinkles, not a speck of brown in sight. Just pure, soft, melt-in-your-mouth pillows of sugar. I thinned my frosting a bit too much, but was already disheartened from not getting it as red as i wanted, so I gave up and just went ahead frosting them. They still tasted great & looked pretty, no harm no foul.

These would be a great addition to your holiday cookie lineup, and you can adapt the decorations for just about any time of the year

Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

For the cookies:

• 4 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 sticks butter, room temperature
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 5 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the frosting:

• 5 cups powdered sugar
• ⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 7-8 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; line sheets with parchment.

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Beat in vanilla until blended. Gradually add flour mixture and beat on low just until incorporated. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.

3. When ready to bake, scoop into 1-ounce balls (about 1 tablespoon) and gently press down center to flatten a little bit. Bake 10 – 12 minutes until set, they should not be browned at all. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

4. To frost the cookies, sift powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add melted butter, vanilla, and milk to the bowl, whisking until smooth. If frosting is too thick, whisk in additional milk as necessary, 1 teaspoon at a time. If frosting is too thin, add additional powdered sugar.

* To save for later, scoop into 1-ounce balls, flatten slightly, then freeze to bake at a later date. Add a couple extra minutes to the baking time if baking from frozen.

*Baking in 1-ounce balls, this batter will make up to 4 dozen cookies

Natalie PurcelTwitterFacebook

Natalie is respected in the recipe blogosphere not only for her mouthwatering kitchen creations on her personal blog Wee Eats, but for her attractive photography that always seem to gather quite the impressive social media audience.