Butter Shortbread Cookies

1. In a large bowl, place the butter and slowly beat in the powdered sugar. Once light and fluffy, add the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Slowly start to mix the flour in with the butter and sugar mixture. I used my hands for this process. It made it go by faster and it was a lot easier. Once all the flour is added, form dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes (the longer you keep in the refrigerator the colder the dough becomes meaning the harder it is for the dough to be rolled).

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Prepare 2 baking sheets by lightly greasing or spraying them. I divided the dough in half because there was so much but if you have a big enough surface you don’t have to do that. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick. If the dough is too hard, you might want to let it come to room temp just a little bit. Use your cookie cutters to make shapes in the dough and place the cookies on top of the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes and repeat this cycle until all dough has been baked. Allow the cookies to completely cool before you begin to ice them.

3. To make the icing: Add all the ingredients, except food coloring, into a medium bowl (powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and salt). Whisk until well mixed. If you would like to use multiple colors separate the icing into ramekins and add a different food color into the separated icings. Decorate as desired. Feel free to add edible sprinkles or colored sugar on top. Once finished decorating place on a drying rack with napkins or parchment paper placed under to catch excess icing.