Patriotic Sugar Cookies

I am first going to apologize. Life has been a bit hectic around here. I am finally getting caught up on blogs/reading/Joe's work stuff...etc...so forgive the lack of posts lately and enjoy the plethora that is going to bombard you in the coming days! I have TONS of new recipes and hopefully will be caught up fairly soon.  Here is a patriotic little thing that I was So very proud of how it turned out.  It looks way harder than it actually is. The tutorial for doing the frosting like I did is found HERE.  They explain way better than I ever could. But here is the sugar cookie recipe from Our Best Bites.  And it was a delicious recipe. It jumped way up there to the top of my list of delicious cookies!  Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies
From: Our Best Bites
1 cup real butter (no substitutions!) at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg (make sure to use a large or extra large egg)
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or other flavor of your choice, like vanilla)
3 C flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled (don’t scoop it!)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy- about 2 minutes. Add in egg and extract and mix to incorporate.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.  A very important note: It’s important to correctly measure your flour or you will end up with a dry, crumbly dough. Never, ever use your measuring cup to scoop up the flour.  Use a regular sized spoon and spoon the flour into the cup and then level it off with a knife.
 Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined.
Chill the dough in the fridge for about an hour, or use this great tip to make things easier:
When your dough is made, instead of putting it in the fridge, immediately roll  between 2 sheets of waxed or parchment paper and then place on a flat surface in the fridge.  Chill for about 20-30 minutes and then start cutting it out.  This way it chills faster and the bonus is that you don’t need to add extra flour to roll it out.  If you don’t use this tip, proceed as follows:
When you’re ready to roll out dough lightly sprinkle flour onto your work surface and roll out dough with a rolling pin.

Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes. The baking time really depends on how you like them. If you like themreally and slightly chewy, about 8-9 minutes does it. If you like them slightly crisp and buttery, then go for 10-12.