Homemade sugar cookies and buttercream frosting

This recipe comes to you from my sweet Gramma Fanning. She makes the most delicious sugar cookies and buttercream frosting from scratch making me wish I lived closer to her at Christmastime! I attended a surprise 30th birthday party for one of my best girlfriends and decided to use my new margarita shaped cookie cutter for a cutesie dessert. This recipe is quite long and involved but so worth it!

Cookie Ingredients
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
*3 cups of flour mixed with 1/2 tsp salt
*3 tbsp sour cream mixed with 1/2 tsp baking soda
* added alternately 

1. Mix ingredients in order given and chill dough thoroughly (I let chill for 6 hours)
2. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick on floured surface
3. Cut out with floured cookie cutter and sprinkle additional sugar
4. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 7 minutes at 400 degrees
5. Let the cookies completely cool to make frosting easier
6. Store in covered containers with wax paper (they stay crisper in tins and softer in plastic/glass containers)

(these are supposed to be party hats but they look like wedding gowns!)

Frosting Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 cups confectioners sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla 

3 tbsp milk

1. Cream together butter and sugar

2. Add vanilla 

3. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time, mixing as you go

Link to frosting recipe here

 (Ernie's nose was non stop sniffin')

Tips for this recipe:

+ Let dough chill for 6-8 hours before using

+ Only take small amount of dough out of the fridge at a time. The dough is easier to work with if it is cold

+ Let cookies cool over night (or 6-8 hours) before frosting to ensure they are completely cooled.

+ If frosting is too thick, thin with milk to make spreading easier

+ Use a frosting kit (pictured above) or plastic baggie to frost evenly

+ Use a toothpick to spread frosting

+ Let frosted cookies dry for a couple hours before packing into containers