Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies

SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH: In the bowl of an electric mixer, affixed with the paddle attachment, add the butter and beat on medium-high speed until pale and glossy. Add the sugar to the butter and mix on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg to the mixture. Mix until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and almond extract to the mixture, and mix until incorporated.

Change the mixer speed to low and slowly add the nutmeg, flour, baking powder and salt to the wet ingredients. Mix on medium-low until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber scraper to ensure all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.

Dump the cookie dough onto a piece of parchment paper and flatten out into a disk (approximately 1/4-inch thickness), and chill in the refrigerator for one hour. If leaving the cookie dough in the fridge for longer than a couple hours, then wrap with plastic wrap.

Once dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350-degrees and line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. Use desired cookie cutters to cut out your cookies. Re-roll leftover dough out and continue to cut out cookies until all dough is used.

Bake cookies, one cookie sheet at a time, in 350-degree oven for 13-15 minutes. Bake time will depend on the size of your cookies, but cookies are done when the cookies are very lightly colored on top and around the edges. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 5-minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

CINNAMON ICING: In a small mixing bowl, combine sugar, milk, corn syrup, water, ground cinnamon and cinnamon oil. Use a fork to stir the mixture together. Add additional water if needed to thin out the consistency. Likewise, you can add additional powdered sugar to stiffen up the mixture if it is too loose for your needs. Add food coloring if desired. Use a spoon or knife to ice the cooled cookies. Let cookies set. Icing will harden up.