Sugar Cookies (Scandinavian)

Ingredients

• 1 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• sugar, for dusting tops

Directions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. 2

   Beat the butter until creamy. Beat in the sugar until well blended.

3. 3

   Stir in the egg, then the salt, cardamom, vanilla extract, and almond extract.

4. 4

   Slowly add the flour, blending well.

5. 5

   Refrigerate the dough for 30-90 minutes. Take out only enough to work with at one time.

6. 6

   Roll to 1/8" thickness on a lightly floured board. (Flour the rolling pin lightly, too, or use a rolling pin cover.) Cut the dough with floured cutters.

7. 7

   Place cookies on ungreased baking sheets (optional: use parchment paper). Leave a little room between cookies. Dust with the sugar of your choice and bake at 350°F for 11-15 minutes until lightly browned at edges. Remove cookies from baking sheets after 1-2 minutes and let them cool.

8. 8

   These cookies may be frozen. You can refrigerate the dough or even freeze it for later use.