SUGAR COOKIES STOP AND SHOP RECIPES

Steps:

• Using your hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until nice and fluffy. Add egg and beat until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add sour cream and vanilla and beat, until well combined, scraping down the bowl with a silicone spatula.
• In a separate bowl, sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt and whisk together. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Remove half of the dough from the fridge. Working with a 1-tablespoon-sized piece of dough at a time, roll into a round ball. Place dough ball onto the prepared baking pan (spacing about 2 inches apart) and use the bottom of a glass cup or the back of a large spoon to press and evenly flatten.
• Bake on middle rack in preheated oven for 9-13 minutes or until the cookies are just starting to turn golden (NOT brown) on the edges (switching and rotating baking sheets about halfway through). Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on the sheet. Cookies will continue to cook while they cool. Repeat with any remaining dough.
• To make the butter cream frosting: Cream butter in a stand mixer or using your hand mixer for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add salt, vanilla then slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time then add the remainder of powdered sugar until desired consistency and taste is reached (you may not need it all) and continue to beat until smooth.
• Once cookies have cooled completely, frost and add sprinkles, if desired. Allow frosting to set, then store in an air-tight container.

Steps:

• For the sugar dough: Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat together the egg and vanilla in a small bowl.
• Beat the butter, granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed. Once incorporated, increase the speed to medium and beat until slightly creamy, about 3 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Reduce the speed to low again and slowly pour in the egg mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, increasing the speed as the dough gets thicker to keep the beaters spinning. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters as needed. Once all the flour is just incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the dough is very smooth, about 5 minutes.
• Turn the dough out of the bowl and bring it together. Divide into 2 even pieces. Shape each piece into a flat square and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• To roll, cut and bake the cookies: Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Dust another sheet of parchment paper with flour and put 1 piece of the dough on top. Dust with more flour and top with another sheet of parchment. Roll the dough out between the parchment sheets into a square about 1/4-inch thick (about 11-by-9 inches) and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining piece of dough.
• From 1 piece of rolled dough, cut out cookies with a 2 1/2-inch cutter and arrange on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Refrigerate while you cut the remaining cookies. Reroll any scraps of dough and repeat the freezing, cutting and refrigerating process until all the dough is used.
• Bake, rotating the baking sheets front to back and bottom to top about halfway through, until golden brown around the edges, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets set on a wire cooling rack, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the royal icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons water and the vanilla and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the icing forms thick and glossy peaks, about 2 minutes (add up to 1 tablespoon more water, if needed). Tint with a few drops of food coloring if desired.
• Fit a pastry bag with a small round tip and fill it with the icing.
• Pipe royal icing on cookies with the design of your liking and let dry for 30 minutes.