Sugar Cookies ala Martha

Yes..it's ANOTHER Halloween post. Don't groan..it is that time of the year and it just so happens to be my very favorite holiday. Having to try out our new spooky shaped cookie cutters I poured through my cookbooks to find a sugar cookie recipe to fit the bill. Of course the recipe I settled upon was by none other than the fabulous Martha Stewart. The first batch of cookies I whipped up I was honestly not very impressed with..but after we decided not to roll out our dough as thin and baked for a little less time we ended up with perfect, chewy and delicious cookies.

Sugar Cookies ala Martha (adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)
Be forewarned..this recipe makes A LOT of cookies.

Ingredients
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. salt
5 cups flour

Directions
1. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and salt, stir until combined. Add flour in 2 batches, mixing until just incorporated.

2. Divide dough in half. Pat into flattened discs and wrap each disc in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or keep up to 1 week.

3. Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface roll dough out to 1/2 inch thickness. Using cookie cutters cut out shapes and transfer to prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Allow cookies to cool and firm on cookie sheet before transferring.

4. Once cookies have completely cooled decorate as desired. Icing slides right off of warm cookies..so be patient!!

We also made up some ghosts and bats..but those dissapeared much too quickly to take any photographs of!!