Merry Maker Christmas Sugar Cookies

These are beautiful, and so much fun to make. Everyone is impressed by them, and they are not hard to make. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family and friends do! The sugar cookie recipe is identical to Confectioner's Sugar Cookies #3094 by Linda Johansen, but there is no other way to post the recipe without copying it! Recipe and idea from Betty Crocker's Cookie Book. Thanks! (Cook time and prep time do not include chill time.)

• Ready In: 2 hrs
• Yields: 48 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups  sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1  cup butter (I use half of each) or 1  cup margarine (I use half of each)
• 1  large egg
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  almond extract
• 2 1⁄2 cups flour
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1  teaspoon cream of tartar
•  food coloring (either liquid or paste)

Directions

1. Mix sugar and butter.
2. Add eggs and flavorings; mix well.
3. Mix dry ingredients together, and blend in to other mixture.
4. Divide dough into several parts.
5. Tint each a different color.
6. Make as many different colors as you like, but make sure they are really different to get the strongest contrast.
7. Refrigerate dough for two or three hours.
8. Take each color of dough and roll into small balls.
9. Place an assortment of different colors next to each other, making sure no two of the same colors touch.
10. Roll together, until about 1/8-inch thick.
11. Cut as many cookies as possible from dough, because if you reroll it, it will smear together.
12. Or, you can make a few at a time by rolling only a few balls at a time.
13. Bake cookies at 375°F for 7-8 minutes, or until lightly golden on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
14. These cookies freeze well.