Is there anything better than a sugar cookie?

One of my favorite cookies is a sugar cookie.  I just love them.  There's icing, they're soft, they are typically large in size - everything I want a cookie to be! BUT I have never had great success in baking them.  They look great on the cookie sheet - but turn into these odd deformed shapes when I bake them (from spreading too much).  So, I set out to figure out WHY and how to get them to keep their shapes.  Here's what I learned...

1 - the butter shouldn't be too soft.
ok, mixing hard butter sucks - especially by hand (more on that shortly).  I was always the one who would take my butter out 3 days before I was going to bake so it was almost at the melting point.  Not a good idea when wanting cookies not to spread, apparently. And I always use butter in my baking, never lard.  Lard just sounds... bad.  So, your butter should be soft but not melting.  I found leaving it out overnight to defrost (we freeze ours until we need it) then popping it in the fridge about an hour before I need it worked well.
2 - don't use a hand mixer or one of those fancy stand mixers.  mix by hand. 
I am not one for creating more work, or making work harder, but mixing by hand is key.  Unlike when baking a cake (hmmmm.... cake) you don't want lots of air bubbles in this dough.  So mixing by hand with a wooden spoon it is (right after I press my husbands shirts and hang the laundry... whoops! just writing mix by hand with a wooden spoon made me think I was back in 1950...)
3 - preheat your oven for a least 1/2  hour.
Don't ask why.... you just need to believe.
4-cut the cookies into shapes then plop the cookie sheet into the freezer for 15 minutes before baking
You'll see from the recipe that the dough is chilled prior to rolling it out but it warms up while you are re-rolling and cutting.   Also, you never want to bake a cookie - any cookie - on a warm or hot cookie sheet (unless your preference is hard cookies).
5-pray
and I'm not even religious...

THE RECIPE
This is the receipt I know use after trying countless others.  One - they don't spread as much as others I have tried and two - they are freaking delicious! Sometimes I don't even get to the decorating part before they are gone..
When using this recipe, keep in mind this is what works for me, my oven and where I live (in Alberta so I am about 3500 feet above sea level - baker's nightmare)

3 cups flour (all purpose)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup butter - I use salted butter.  if using unsalted, you may want to add in some salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs **I add an extra egg due to my location.  if you are not at least 2000 feet above sea level, you probably only need 1
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tbsp or so milk **again, due to my location.


1 - cream butter and sugar (with your wooden spoon) until just mixed

2 - add eggs and vanilla

3 - mix dry ingredients and add to butter mixture

4 - mix until just incorporated (OK, truth be told at this point I throw away the wooden spoon and just mix with my hands.)

I then roll out my dough (I tend to make it thick  cause I like soft cookies) between 2 sheets of parchment paper.  I then put all my rolled out dough in the fridge overnight (or at least 2 hours).  By rolling between sheets of parchment paper, I do not have to roll on a floured surface - less mess.

The next day, I cut the cookies and then place back in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before baking.  Again, I preheat my oven at 350 degrees for at least 1/2 hour.  Cookies take about 10 minutes to bake.

THE ICING

I am not the best decorator but I try!  I like sugar cookies icings that harden when dry so I can stack the cookies in a container but don't like a true royal icing.  So this is the one I use...

-about 2 cups icing sugar

-1 - 2 tsp almond extract 

- 1 tbsp milk or whipping cream (if I have it - if not, I just use milk)

- 1 tbsp light corn syrup (I think this is what makes it harden as well as gives it a nice glossy glow).  I could be wrong.

Mix and color with food coloring.  I personally then use a small paint brush to "paint" my cookies - better control then a knife and easy for the kids!

RESULTS

here is a picture of my first attempt...

     They tasted great! And they still look like hearts so they held their shape pretty well.   But I think I need to learn either how to "flood" my icing so they are a bit neater or I am curious to try "rolled buttercream icing" (what's that, you say? think fondant but way better tasting).  Stay tuned for THOSE results....