Rolled Sugar Cookies

By Texaschef11

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla* or 1 teaspoon vanilla plus zest of 1 lemon
• food coloring (if cookie design calls for it)

Preparation

Step 1

*Instead of vanilla, you can use other extracts such as almond or peppermint.

1. Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Using your mixer, use the paddle attachment to cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla (and lemon zest, if you're using it) or your extract of choice and mix until well blended.

3. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until the two are thoroughly blended.

4. If your cookie design calls for adding food coloring, do so now, and continue blending until desired color is reached and is evenly incorporated.

5. Turn out dough onto work surface and divide into two or three equal portions, Form each one into a rough disk. Click here for step by step and visuals of how to roll out dough and attain cookies of the same thickness.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

7. After you have rolled and cut the dough and the cookie shapes are on parchment-lined cookie sheets, bake them in the middle rack of the oven for 12-16 minutes or until the cookies start to turn slightly golden around the edges.

8. Cool cookies completely on a rack before icing or decorating.

Yield
2 1/2-inch cookies--about 30
3 1/2-inch cookies--about 16
4 1/2-inch cookies--about 12