Freshly Baked Cut Out Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, (2 sticks) at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Have ready one or two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Place the butter and sugar into a mixing bow. Using an electric mixer, beat until creamy. Add the vanilla and egg and mix in until well blended.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.
5. Gradually mix together with the butter mixture and blend well.
6. Form the dough into a smooth ball. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 to 1/4 inch.
7. Use any cookie cutter shape you like to cut out the cookies.
8. Place the cookies leaving space between onto the baking sheet.
9. Bake just one sheet at a time for 6 minutes or it may be a tiny bit longer if the cookies are thicker.
10. Remove from the oven and place cookie sheets onto wire racks to cool for a few minutes, then transfer the cookies directly onto the wire racks.
11. Let the cookies cool completely and decorate as desired.