Sugar Cookies with Quick Pour Icing

This is the recipe Kim W. used the year we made sugar cookie Christmas trees at her house.

Sugar Cookie Recipe:

3/4 c. butter or margarine
3/4 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 c. flour
2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add baking powder and flour, one cup at a time, mixing well. The dough will be very stiff, so you might have to stir by hand or have faith in your fantastic Kitchen Aid mixer that you thank your mother for silently every time you use it. Wait, that's me. Divide the dough into two balls (so it is easier to work with). Do not chill dough.
Working with one dough ball, roll onto floured surface. Using a decent amount of flour is the key to having them not stick. The recipe says to roll the dough out to 1/4 of a inch, but I don't do that, I just roll it until it feels good. Use cookie cutters to cut out any shapes desired. The recipe does say if the stars are difficult to remove from the cutting surface (aka my cabinet), dip a spatula in flour and gently lift it. I've never done that, but hey, it's worth a shot.

Bake cookies on top rack of oven (I am too lazy and just use the middle rack that is already set) for 6-7 minutes or until cookies are light brown. I baked some yesterday for 8 minutes and they went into the trash. Remove cookies from cookie sheet immediately and place on a cooling rack (which I actually have and would like three more of) or your counter. You know, whatever works.

Let the cookies cool down and then make the icing.

Quick Pour Icing:

This icing dries to a smooth, shiny surface, unlike regular frostings. I half this recipe, but because I do not know what 1/4 plus 1/8 cups of water equals, I will give you the full recipe and let you half it on your own. THAT, my friends, is why we went to high school...so we can get crazy with recipes.

9 c. powdered sugar, sifted (I don't have a sifter so I ignore that part. Sifters are for snobs.)
3/4 c. water
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
liquid food color

Place sugar in saucepan. Pour water and corn syrup in and mix well. Place over low heat and stir until the icing is pretty liquidy. (Real word, I swear) Add the flavor and the coloring, stir. Do not allow temperature of icing to exceed 100 degrees. I don't know why. That is just what it says. I do not have a thermometer to take my icing's temperature, so I just cook it until it is clear (well, not clear, but you will see what I mean as you do it)

To cover the cookies you could either:
A) Place cookies on a cooling rack over something (like a cookie sheet), and pour the icing over the cookies, starting the middle and working your way out. Use a spatula to spread to sides.
B) Dip top of cookies in icing (resulting in minor burns on the finger tips) and then place on wire rack to set.

I do method B.

Good luck. These sugar cookies are so fast to create. Really. And they are SO GOOD. You can even leave them out, uncovered, for a few days and they are still great.