Cut-Out Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cookies:
Mix together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar using your stand mixer. After the butter and sugar mixture is fluffy, add the egg, milk, vanilla, and almond extract. Once all of these ingredients have been fully incorporated, add the dry ingredients. Mix until fully combined.

The dough will probably be extremely sticky, but that’s OK. Form it into a ball, as best you can, and place it back into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it chill for at least an hour. I let the dough chill overnight.

If you do chill it overnight, you may need to let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, or it’ll be too hard to roll out. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat.

Once the dough is ready, place it on a floured work surface and roll it out using a rolling pin. Make sure your surface and rolling pin are both well floured. Roll out the dough until it’s about ⅛ to ¼ inch thick. Cut the dough with whatever shape cookie cutter you like.

Place them onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving an inch or two between them. Bake in the preheated oven for 8 – 12 minutes. Mine were perfect at 10 minutes: a slightly golden color with a crunchy exterior and a soft middle. If you want a crunchier cookie, roll these out to about ⅛ inch thick and bake for a little longer. Cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

For the cream cheese frosting:
In the bowl of your stand mixer, place cream cheese and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute. Slowly add the powdered sugar and salt, mixing on low speed as you add it. I like using just a pinch of salt to cut the sweetness of the sugar! You may need to stop and scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Now add in the milk and vanilla and mix until combined. Frost and enjoy!

Let the frosting completely harden before storing these at room temperature in an airtight container.

Notes:
1. If you want crunchier cookies, roll the dough to ⅛ inch thick and bake them for about 10 – 12 minutes. My cookies were rolled to ¼ inch thick and baked for 10 and they were the perfect amount of crunchy on the edges and soft in the middle.
2. Prep time includes chilling time!