Almond Sugar Cookies

1. Stage

Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, five to seven minutes. Beat in the almond extract until it's fully incorporated. Editor's Tip: Check out our helpful guide on how to cream butter and sugar properly. It's key to ensuring your cookies turn out just right.

2. Stage

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Next, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. Editor's Tip: Take care not to overmix your dough in this step. Doing so will cause the gluten in the flour to develop too much, which can cause cookies to become tough and dense.

3. Stage

Divide and roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Arrange the balls 2 inches apart on ungreased sheet pans. Coat the bottom of a glass with cooking spray, then dip it in granulated sugar. Gently flatten the cookies with the sugar-coated glass, dipping the glass in sugar again as needed until all the cookies are flattened.

4. Stage

Transfer the cookies to the oven and bake until the edges are lightly golden, seven to nine minutes. Cool for one minute before removing the cookies to wire racks (like this space-saving cookie cooling rack) to cool completely. Editor's Tip: The cookies are ready once they appear almost set in the middle, and the edges are just beginning to get some color. Try not to overbake the cookies as they will lose their softness and chew if left in the oven too long.

5. Stage

While the almond sugar cookies cool, prepare the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, almond extract (this is our Test Kitchen's pick for the best almond extract), and enough water to achieve glaze consistency. Tint the glaze with food coloring if desired, then drizzle it over the cookies. Garnish with toasted sliced almonds.