Christmas Cookies

It is a tradition in our house to make these with my daughters every year. This is the perfect iced cookie recipe for any time of year with other seasonal cookie cutters. But these are the cookies my girls leave for Santa on Christmas Eve! My DD#3 says, "Prepare to have a fun time if you make these!"

• Ready In: 21 mins
• Yields: 48 cookies

Ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup shortening (half of this 3/4 cup should be butter or margarine, and the other half shortening, this is very im)
• 1  cup sugar
• 2  large eggs
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1⁄2 cups flour
• 1  teaspoon baking powder
• 1  teaspoon salt

• For Icing

• 1⁄3 cup  soft margarine (sticks)
• 3  cups powdered sugar
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2  tablespoons milk
•  various  food coloring

Directions

1. Mix all cookie ingredients.
2. Cover and chill at least 1 hours.
3. Roll dough out on well floured surface.
4. Cut out with cookie cutters.
5. Bake at 400° for 6-8 minutes, until pale golden brown on edges. Do not overbake.
6. Allow cookies to cool on rack or plate.
7. Combine icing ingredients except food coloring.
8. Separate the icing into small bowls according to the number of colored icings you want.
9. Add food colorings to each bowl.
10. Ice and decorate cookies as desired.