Recipe: Mother's Vanilla Sugar Animal Cookies - Copycat Recipe

MOTHER'S VANILLA SUGAR ANIMAL COOKIES
Copycat Recipe

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg, room temperature, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 packages of Wilton Candy Melts, 1 pink and 1 white
1 package of Colored candy sprinkles

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside until needed.

Cream the butter and sugar together with a mixer on medium speed. Mix for several minutes until fluffy and light.

Set mixer on low speed and add egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Gradually add flour mixture to batter. Mix until batter is smooth and uniform.

Divide dough half. Flatten each half of dough into
a disc 1/2 inch thick. Wrap each in plastic wrap and place
in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

After chilling dough, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare several cookie sheets by greasing or lining with parchment paper.

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface. Dust top of dough with more flour as needed. Roll dough out to 1/8 inch thick and cut out cookies using animal shaped cookie cutters. Place cookies about 1-inch apart on cookie sheets.

Bake in preheated 325 degree F oven for 14 to 16 minutes. Rotate cookie sheets halfway through baking. Bake until edges of cookies are golden brown. After baking, transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

After cookies have cooled, melt Wilton Candy Melts according to package directions and ice half of the cookies with pink and half with white candy melts icing. Sprinkle iced cookies with colored candy sprinkles before icing hardens.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies - depending on cookie cutter size