My daughter showing off her crazy-awesome rolling-pin skills...
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 C. Sugar
1 C. Butter, softened (I use salted)
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Almond Extract
3 1/2 C. Flour
1 t. Baking Powder
My boys are expert cookie cutters...and dough eaters!
INSTRUCTIONS
In mixer (I use my cake-batter attachement), beat sugar, butter, and cream cheese until fluffy-ish. Add egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat until creamy.
In separate bowl, sift flour and baking powder together.
Little by little, add flour mix to cream cheese mixture. Mix well until flour is fully incorporated. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 2-3 hours.
On lightly floured surface, roll dough (about 1/2″ thickness). Cut cookies and bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.
Our first batch of the season, made to share on Thanksgiving!
I use a simple powdered sugar glaze as frosting for these – powdered sugar, water, and a little vanilla. Add water little by little to the sugar until you get the consistency you want. Liven up with food coloring and decorating goodies!
Myndi Shafer 
I’m totally going to try these and hope to WOW my family with my new ninja-baking skills! 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Yum! I’ll put these on my to-bake list this month. Thanks for sharing.
I am sooo going to test this out. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Printing off the recipe for my next baking day 🙂 I love the simplicity of the recipe because it makes it great to do with kids (or in my case, to give a husband who can barely boil water a lesson in the kitchen).
Totally dig simple recipes with short ingredient lists! Somehow I’ve managed to move the hubster past the boiling water stage – he makes a pretty mean grilled cheese now. 🙂 But this is one of the kiddos favorite recipes – making sugar cookies is a little like playdough with benefits. The fun of playdough, with a cookie at the end. 😉
Thanks for stopping by, Marcy!
Yumm – this is going to be a total hit this Christmas. Thank you for sharing the special recipe!
I love the pictures of your children making the cookies. The look of concentration on your daughter’s face is absolutely priceless!
Thanks for the wonderful recipe, Myndi. I’m definitely going to make these this year. 🙂
“…making sugar cookies is a little like playdough with benefits.” Love that! Thanks for the recipe, Myndi.
Temptress! 🙂
Oh my Gosh! These cookies are so going to be made at my house. Yum. Thanks for sharing the recipe and pictures of your little elf helpers.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
Cream cheese is the ingredient otherwise known as manna. I am making these this year for the cookie packs I give out. Thank you!
Thank you for posting this! I was going to try harassing you via twitter to get the recipe. Thanks for preventing me from becoming a cookie stalker. I can’t wait to make them. Ok, really, I can’t wait to eat them!
Those sound yummy- I wonder if I can make them work gluten free.
Yum!! I love sugar cookies and we’re definitely trying out this recipe this year. I can’t wait until my daughter is home so we can start making them. Come on, December 16th!
Your kids are way too adorable. I love, love, love that little rolling pin. So precious!
Looks delicious, Myndi! I’m going to have to give some serious thought to holiday baking…and it looks like this may just have to go on my list. 🙂