Perfect Sugar Cookies

Anyone who knows me, knows that if there is a holiday near by, then chances are I'm baking something for it! Although my husband once again went overboard, buying me roses and tickets to a show, I chose to go the classic way to man's heart... food. (It amazes me that he is not the size of a house.)
This is a great sugar cookie recipe! Sweet, and just the right medium of crisp and chewy. There are two big mistakes that people usually make when baking sugar cookies. One, they do not refrigerate the dough before rolling it out and cutting it. By refrigerating it first, it makes it firmer and easier to cut once you roll it out. I refrigerate it for at least 3 hours. And second, they use too much flower when rolling the dough out. Most of us take what's left once you cut the first batch out and roll it out again to cut more from it. If you have crazy amounts of flour on your work space and on your rolling pin, you are incorporating it back in to the cookie dough and this will make a harder, sometimes tougher cookie when it should be light and flaky. I get rid of the flour on the counter completely and roll it out between two pieces of baking paper. The dough won't stick to it and it's almost mess free!
ENJOY!

Ingredients

For cookies:

• 4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup softened butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 4 Tbs milk
• 2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 160 C. (320 F.)
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking powder.
3. In a large mixing bowl combine butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after the addition of each. Add milk and vanilla until just combined.
4. Add dry mixture to sugar and butter mixture and beat until just combined.
5. Divide mixture in to two evenly shaped disks. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 ours.
6. Work dough between your hands until it softens slightly. Place between two large sheets of baking paper. Roll with a rolling pin until 1/8 inch thick. Cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters. left over dough can be combined and rolled out again. Place cut out cookies on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Place on a cooling rack once removed from the oven.

For royal icing:

• 4 egg whites
• 5 cups of icing (powdered) sugar
• 1 Tbs lemon juice of flavored essence
• food coloring

1. Beat egg whites until peaks form.
2. Slowly add sifted icing sugar to egg whites. Mix until just combined. Add flavoring of lemon juice and mix once more until just combined.
3. Divide into smaller bowls and add food coloring. Water can be added to thin as needed. You will need a thicker icing for the outline and boarders, and thinner for filling areas.

My tips for decorating: With a edible marker, draw desired outlines or designs on cookies. Trace with a thicker texture royal icing. Once dry, about 30 minutes, fill in with a thinner texture icing