Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

A soft, chewy flavorful cookie. If you like sugar cookies, you'll love how easy this is. You have to let the dough refrigerate a while, but it's worth the wait!

• Ready In: 28 mins
• Serves: 72
• Yields: 6 dozen

Ingredients

• 1  cup white sugar
• 1  cup butter, softened
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  almond extract
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1  egg yolk
• 2 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond and vanilla extracts, and egg yolk. Beat until smooth.
2. Stir in flour until well blended. Chill the dough for 8 hours, or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/3 at a time to 1/8 inch thickness, refrigerating remaining dough until ready to use.
5. Cut into desired shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Leave cookies plain for frosting, or brush with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with candy sprinkles or colored sugar.
6. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light and golden brown. Cool cookies completely before frosting.