Lofthouse Style Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour, plus more for dusting work surface
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup all vegetable shortening, unflavored, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 6 Tbsp salted butter, at room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 Tbsp half-and-half
• Food coloring, optional, I used Wilton red gel – for the red, and McCormick red liquid for the pink

Directions

1. Into a large bowl, sift the flour together with the cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Give the mixture a quick whisk to even it out, then put it to the side.
2. In an electric stand mixer, beat the butter, shortening, and sugar on medium speed until the mixture looks very light and airy, about 4 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl when necessary.
3. Mix in the egg until incorporated. Add the egg white, vanilla, and almond extract, and blend again until incorporated.
4. While the mixer is on, add the dry mixture gradually, mixing only until the dough comes together.
5. Gather the dough into a ball, place it in an airtight container, and chill for 1 1/2 – 2 hours. When only 10 minutes of chilling remain, preheat the oven to 375.
6. Take the dough out of the refrigerator, then lightly dust a clean work surface and the top of the dough with cake flour.
7. Roll it evenly to 1/3-inch thick. For thicker cookies, you can go up to 1/2-inch, but the yield will be smaller.
8. Cut out the shapes you want. A medium heart cookie cutter yields 20 cookies.
9. Move the cutouts to baking sheets lined with Silpat or parchment paper.
10. Slide the baking sheets into the preheated oven and bake for 8 – 11 minutes. The cookies should stay pale and should NOT take on brown color.
11. After baking, take the sheets from the oven and leave the cookies on the baking sheets for several minutes, then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
12. Once they are completely cool, spread on Vanilla Frosting and, if you are using sprinkles, add them right after each cookie is frosted so they adhere before the frosting firms.
13. For storage, use an airtight container and leave it at room temperature.