Best Christmas Cut-Out Cookies!

It's that time again!  Growing up in my household it was an annual Christmas tradition to spend up to three days baking cut-out cookies.  First making the dough.  Baking. Then frosting and decorating.   The weekend started out with many sneaky spoonfuls of dough and licks of frosting covered spoons when mom wasn't looking.  By the end of the weekend we had tummy aches, and multiple Tupperware filled with delicious decorated cookies ready for holiday visitors!

So it seems that I have taken over the tradition of making them.  Even days before our wedding I was baking and frosting batches of these cookies to have on our candy bar.  Crazy. I know.  But if you love soft cut out cookies with delicious creamy and sugary frosting, you will love these!

Christmas Cookie Recipe:

1 1/3 cup butter salted
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
8 tsp. milk
4 cups flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

After combining all the ingredients, place in a tightly closed bowl overnight in the refrigerator.  Roll out the following day with flour and bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.  If you like your cookies nice and soft, the trick is to take them out just before or just as the edges are turning slightly golden.  Its usually around 8 minutes. 

Frosting:

1 bag powder sugar

1 stick of butter

1 stick of crisco butter

heat about 1/4 cup milk in the saucepan

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine butter, powder sugar, and vanilla in bowl.  Add heated milk slowly while beating until desired consistency.  Should look similar to the picture below.  If not creamy enough, add more crisco butter.  Otherwise if too buttery, add more powder sugar. 

 

 

Ryan brought up his folding table to give me more room to work with in the kitchen.  With limited countertop space it helped out a great deal having this close by.

Here is my bowls of frosting with food coloring added....my project only beginning!

And here they are finished!  If only they weren't so addicting; once you eat one, you have to keep eating more!

Anyone else have any great Christmas cookie or holiday dessert recipes? 

What are your baking traditions for the holidays?