Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

I've been wanting to bake some sugar cookies with my daughter for a while now, so that she has a chance to decorate them. Then this recipe for Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies popped up on my reader from Annie's Eats early last week before our plumbing incident. So I baked the cookies first and haven't had a chance to frost them. We've, therefore, been eating the cookies without the frosting. So before we run out of cookies to frost, I decided to finally complete the recipe today. The cookies were really good. Soft and cakey. But the frosting really did for me. You can't have these cookies without the frosting. There wasn't much cookies left to frost, so I did them myself. But I'm definitely making these again so that my daughter has a chance to frost them.

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

4 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

5 tsp. vanilla extract

1) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt and whisk together to blend. Set aside. In a bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine butter and sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until soft and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. Blend in vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated and evenly mixed. Cover and chill the dough for 1 hour.

2) When ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 350 deg F. Line baking sheets with wax or parchment paper. Using a mini ice cream scoop, scoop cookie dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the ball to shape cookie and place on prepared baking sheet. Space the cookies at least 2-3 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or just until set. (Do not over bake. Edges should be very lightly browned, if at all). Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Frosting:

5 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

7-8 Tbsp. milk (plus more as needed)

food coloring (optional)

sprinkles (optional)

1) Place confectioner's sugar in a bowl of an electric stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Add melted butter, vanilla and milk. Whisk until smooth. Add milk as needed, 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency. Tint with food coloring if desired. Frost cooled cookies and add sprinkles if desired. Store in an airtight container.