I wish I could give you the source for this recipe. I vaguely remember copying it from a food magazine into the back cover of one of my “cookies” cookbooks.

This is a great recipe for those of us who are too impatient to chill the cookie dough in the fridge for an hour. (Chilling is also a great momentum buster when cooking with kids.)

The dough stands up well to lots of handling and re-rolling. Always makes yummy and tender cookies.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (room temperature)

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 and 3/4 cups flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, with mixer at medium high speed, beat butter and sugar until smooth.

2. Beat in egg and vanilla.

3. Add baking powder and flour, one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. The dough will be very stiff; blend last addition of flour in by hand. Do not chill.

4. Divide dough into 2 balls. On a floured surface with floured rolling pin, roll each ball approximately 1/4 inch thick. Cut out desired shapes with cookies cutters. Dip cookie cutters in flour before each use.

5. Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes until cookies are lightly browned. Cool before decorating.

Makes about 36 cookies.

For even more fun try:

Icing Paint

In bowl, whisk 1 cup icing sugar with 1 to 2 tablespoons water, adding more water as needed to make spreadable. Divide and tint with food colouring.

The icing paint works really well if you divide the icing among several sections in an ice cube tray, and then tint each portion a different colour. Give the kids some “icing-dedicated” paint brushes and let them create. (My younger daughter can’t resist licking the paint brush so she gets to keep her cookies all to herself!)