Sift dry ingredients flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside if humid day- cover in a bowl.
Place butter and sugar in mixer and beat until creamy and the color of eggshell or goats milk.
Mixing well is important
Add egg and milk and beat to combine for about a minute or less. You can use two egg whites instead of one large egg. This makes the dough a tiny bit whiter if you want to decorate the cookies as snowflakes. Add the little splash of vanilla. Tell me you aren't using imitation vanilla. IF you don't have real bourbon vanilla skip the ingredient...
Turn mixer off scrape off beaters. Go ahead taste. Maybe it needs a pinch, no maybe you need a glass of wine?
Slowly add flour with a fork, and beat with hand wire wisk until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Takes about 2 minutes if room temperature is 70 and dry day
Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Dough needs to remain cold to roll properly.
Take one ball out of refrigerator.
Grease the metal cookie baking sheets with salted butter and put in refirgerator
If you happen to own the luxury of marble countertop (I no longer do in my little cottage)
the process is easier than on wooden board.
Sprinkle the board or surface with a snowy layer of powdered sugar (a teaspoon)
and take your hand in curve and put a teaspoon in the hand- rub over and on the
rolling pin held over the board allowing the excess to fall.
Roll to an even quarter inch thick.
If dough warms put back in refrigerator covered with wax paper and turn house heat down.
The dough should be able to shake, slide and skate upon the powdered sugar on the board.
Cookie baking sheet (thin metal kind) should be COLD before you move the cut out shapes
Heat oven to 375 degrees
When oven is ready put cookies into oven and at 4 minutes turn the metal tray - from twelve o'clock to three o'clock - not a whole spin just a little turn in the oven. Don't remove from oven. Do this trick quickly to keep the heat at even temperature. Not a pirouette, just a turn.
I found last year that using my cell phone as a timer was handy.
At eight minutes look at the cookies. IF edges are slightly brown they are done. If still white wait one more minute. Total cooking time 8 -9 minutes.
Temperature, ovens, moisture and weather are part of getting this down to perfect.
Cookies should have room around them. When you put on the sheet they need about an inch and a half on all sides.
Cookies done- allow to cool a couple minutes before you move them to the decorating surface.
Now you need some helpers. Make a couple bowls of icing.
stick salted butter
box powdered sugar
teaspoon vanilla
A tablespoon or more of whipping cream ( buy the little carton of whole whipping cream)
Beat for about 2 minutes - if you want it thinner add more vanilla or cream
