Day 2 - Butter cookies

Today, I made a classic butter cookie which is my husband Greg's favorite cookie from his childhood.  His mom, Beverly, and her mother (Nana) made them every Christmas so they are now a staple on our Christmas cookie tray.  The recipe is easy to put together but needs a cookie press which I have yet to find one that works well.  The press I have gave me an arm workout and in fact I had to recruit Greg to help.  Good thing he works out every day!  Here's the recipe.

Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (I omitted since some people in our family don't like almond flavoring -- you know who you are)

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla until incorporated.  Add dry ingredients -- flour, baking powder and salt until dough comes together.  Chill dough thoroughly but if it stays in the refrigerator too long it might be too hard to work in the press.  Press cookies onto a baking sheet, top with sprinkles and bake for 10 minutes.  Once out of the oven, loosen cookies on the tray and then let cool slightly on the tray. Remove from tray and cool completely on a rack.   Once cool, pack in airtight container or Ziploc to freeze.  Recipe makes about 140 cookies so you will have a lot of cookies to share.