Soft Christmas Sugar Cookies

Making The Cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Lay parchment paper on your cookie sheets and clean off a big area of counter space to roll out the cookie dough.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes with a stand mixer on low-medium.
3. In a small bowl crack the eggs and beat with a fork or a whisk. Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture, then mix until well blended.
4. To your wet mixture add the flour and scatter the salt around the bowl. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients well for a few minutes with a strong wooden spoon or a stand mixer on low and then medium until a dough forms. (Don’t try mixing this part of the dough with a hand mixer—the dough is very thick and may break your mixer!)
5. Lightly flour the counter and a rolling pin, keeping a small pile of flour at the edge of your workspace. Roll out your dough to a thickness of about ⅜ of an inch adding dustings of flour as needed. Use holiday cookie cutters between 3-4 inches and cut out your favorite shapes like circles, Santa, reindeer, stars, or trees.
6. Place all cookies on baking sheets and bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely before frosting.

Making The Frosting

1. Place butter in a large mixing bowl. Cream butter on medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes with a stand mixer or hand mixer. Add vanilla and salt, then mix for one more minute until fully mixed.
2. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing first on low speed, then on medium until well mixed. Scraping down the sides of the bowl each time before you add more sugar until a creamy frosting forms.
3. Split the frosting into smaller bowls, then mix in food coloring until you get your desired color. The frosting can also be left white if you prefer. You can then spread this frosting with a knife, or place it in a piping bag to frost the cookies and top with sprinkles. Enjoy!