Grandma Amico's Buttermilk Sugar Cookie Cutouts

1. Gather all ingredients.

2. Mix sugar, shortening, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla together in the bowl of a stand mixer (such as KitchenAid®) fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy.

3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Beat into sugar mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.

4. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours or overnight.

5. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Roll dough out on lightly floured work surface using lightly floured rolling pin to desired thickness.

6. Cut into shapes using cookie cutters and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.

7. Bake in the preheated oven until bottoms begin to lightly brown, 8 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on wax paper or a wire rack, 15 to 30 minutes.

8. For frosting, combine confectioners' sugar and milk in a bowl. Mix into a paste, adding more sugar or milk for desired consistency.

9. Spread frosting thinly onto cooled cookies and cover with sprinkles.

Cook's Notes:

Make sure to use a level teaspoon of baking soda and a heaping teaspoon of baking powder.

Grandma Amico used to say never to combine different cookie shapes on a sheet because different cookie shapes differ in size and, therefore, vary in cooking time. If you don't cook them long enough, they will fall. If you cook them too long, they will brown on the edges and get hard. Over the years, I have had to vary the cooking time and temperature of these cookies depending on the oven I used, so it's always good to do a small test batch before you commit to a baking time and temperature. If your cookies are flat, lower the temperature and bake a little longer.

The frosting is easiest to work with, not chilled, as it spreads better on the cookies.