I Love You Three Homemade Sugar Cookies

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Lately my favorite thing is to fall into bed at night and then spend the next thirty minutes reading cooking blogs. Mel's Kitchen Cafe is one of my favorites, probably because her tastes are eclectic and she has four young kids and therefore often posts the kind of recipes that kids want to eat and moms have time to make. One of my favorite things about her blog is the tab called The Best Recipe where she catalogs basic, tried and true recipes that will save you hours of online recipe spelunking. I haven't tried Mel's The Best Sugar Cookie recipe because I have my own beloved, but I agree with ALL her suggestions. Cut them thick, don't over bake, and at the end of the day, it's all about the frosting.

We're still on the "grilled cheese sandwiches or scrambled eggs for dinner" gravy train since the nighttime feedings don't leave much energy for kitchen time, but this week I had mercy on my four year old and we made Valentines sugar cookies together. I haven't made this recipe in a long time and when we pulled them out of the oven I felt triumphant. I love you three homemade sugar cookies, I told Elisabeth as I spooned frosting onto her cookies and handed her the bottle of pink sprinkles. Go to town!

Sugar Cookies with Almond Frosting

1 cup softened butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs (plus 2 tsp water for high altitude)
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sour cream 
6 1/2 cups flour (1/4 cup extra for high altitude)
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar, then add eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Beat together. In a separate bowl mix flour, salt, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to cream mixture and mix into dough. Roll dough out on floured surface. Cut cookies about 1/2 thick. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375 for 6-7 minutes. Don't let the cookies turn brown at all!

Almond Frosting

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, soft
1/2 cup butter, soft
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond flavoring

Cream the softened cheese with butter. Add sugar, vanilla and almond flavoring. Beat well.