sweets for my sweet friend and her new baby boy!

impending our meeting of a certain special little one, Lars and i baked what will be the first of many holiday cookies this season.  using a recipe from this book (which i found thrifting last christmas; it's vintage quality is fantastic and the projects in it are truly timeless) we had fun taking turns cutting, frosting and sprinkling our festive shapes.  the cookies turned out great and were a hit~ my only challenge was keeping my husband from eating the whole batch...  we'll definitely be baking more of these again soon.

SUGAR COOKIES

makes 2 dozen

1       stick unsalted butter

1       c. granulated sugar

2c.    sifted all-purpose flour

1/4t. salt

1/2t. baking powder

1       large egg

2T.    brandy

1/2t. vanilla extract

ROYAL ICING

1c. confectioner's sugar

1    egg white

food coloring

cream butter + sugar. sift together dry ingredients; add to butter mixture and beat well. add the egg, brandy and vanilla and beat again until well mixed. shape dough into two flattened rounds and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (i put mine in the freezer for 20 min.)

roll out dough and cut shapes. bake in a 350 oven for 8-10 minutes and do not allow to brown. cool on racks and frost with royal icing and decorate.