Sift together flour, baking powder, add salt, set aside.

In a small dish whisk together egg and vanilla extract, set aside.

In a mixing bowl cream together room temperature butter and sugar, about 5 minutes, scrape the bowl twice. Butter creamed with sugar should be light creamy.

Gradually add vanilla egg mixture, beating anywhere from 30 seconds to minute until well mixed in.

Now gradually in 3 additions add flour. Lower the speed of your mixer to low. Scrape the bowl well after the last addition and beat just until flour is combined.

Scrape the cookie dough into a large bowl, and using your hands knead the cookie dough for about 20-30 seconds, until dough comes together.

Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or 4hours(minimum) or speed up the process by cutting it in half and wrapping well and freezing for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 380F(193C)

If you find that dough is hard as a rock, don’t panic. Quarter the dough. Take one piece and microwave on high for 5-8 seconds to soften it up a little, it should be super soft, just soft enough so you can roll it out, you’ll still need to apply little bit of pressure. Cut up remaining dough into smaller pieces, set aside. Place microwaved piece between your rolling guides, either between 2 pieces of parchment or if you have large silicone mat you can use it also ( for the guides you can use 2 p

Cut out as many cookies as you can. Gather scraps and to the scraps add a fresh piece of cut up down you set aside. Re-roll and repeat until you are done with all the cookies. Place the cookies on a light colored baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill the cut outs in the fridge for about 10 minutes, or in the freezer for 5.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, depending on the oven, turn the sheet once half way through the baking.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-7 minutes, transfer to cooling rack.

Store in the airtight container for up to 2 weeks or freeze undecorated cookies between pieces of wax paper in a large freeze safe container, for up to 3 months.

Decorate cookies as desired with royal icing or other medium that you use.

NOTES: Lemon Cookies – use 1 tbl fresh lemon zest and 1tsp vanilla and 1tsp lemon extract

Chocolate Chip Cut Out Cookies – ¼ cup granulated sugar, ¾ cup brown sugar, micro chocolate chips (add these with flour), 1/4tsp baking powder

Almond Sugar Cookies - I add 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp almond extract. Almond cookies pair really nicely especially with my Fresh lemon royal icing.

Troubleshooting
If you are experiencing inconsistent results, omit baking powder or use less of it and you can up the temperature to 380F.

If your cookies become soft after you decorate them, this is usually because of increased humidity. I'd suggest you bake the cookie for a bit longer, so they are crispier to start with.

Check if the cookies are baked, if you see a spot that appears wet, usually in the center of the cookies, continue baking for additional minute or 2.