Sarah Lane’s “No-Fail” Sugar Cookie Recipe

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to butter mixture. Mix well.

Put a handful of the freshly made dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll to desired thickness. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Put the rolled dough, including the parchment paper, on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes or longer. Your dough will be chilled and ready to cut and bake with no wait and no added flour.

Repeat with scraps after cutting the cookies. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Let cool. Makes 2 dozen 3-inch cookies.

Cookie Frosting:
Beat all the ingredients together until icing forms peaks (7 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer). Add water by the tablespoon to thin the icing to desired consistency. (Tip: White food coloring helps to keep the icing colors from bleeding when decorating cookies. The corn syrup gives the icing a softer bite.)