Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

Christmas always makes me want to bake cookies and these are one of my favorites. They stay soft and chewy and just say Christmas! They remind me of the ones you see at the grocery stores, but much better as they are seasoned with love. They are easy to roll out and work great for using Christmas shaped cookie cutters but also look very festive just cut out with a biscuit cutter, or a glass, into round shapes, frosted and sprinkled with colored sugar.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond,  vanilla and nutmeg. Beat until smooth. Add egg and beat until  blended. Stir in flour until a soft cookie dough is formed. You may need to add a little less or a little more flour. Cover the bowl and chill the dough for 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/3 at a time to about 1/8 inch thickness, refrigerating remaining dough until ready to use. Cut into desired shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters or biscuit cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets or parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Leave cookies plain if you are going to frost, or brush with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with candy sprinkles or colored sugar.

Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until just starting to brown on edges. Cool cookies completely before frosting.

I like to frost mine with a cream cheese frosting.

Frosting:

• 4 oz (1/2 of 8 oz package) cream cheese, softened
• 1 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar to a fairly firm consistency that spreads easily. Add food coloring to frosting for festive decoration and then sprinkle with colored sugar or candy sprinkles.

These never last long at my house and make great gifts. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!