I am wondering if any one has a recipe for the soft sugar cookies with bright colored frosting and sprinkles that are sold in packages in the bakery section of the grocery store. My kids love them but they are pretty expensive.

Making cut-out cookies for Christmas is something I learned to do with my mother; however, the recipe I use now comes from the Pillsbury Cookbook. I think this recipe tastes the way fancy cut-out cookies should, very tender and buttery. ( These are similar to the Lofthouse cookies sold in my grocery store. Except I think they are much better. The frosting is just a basic buttercream so they will not be as smooth and fancy as the fondant covered ones, but they taste good and they take sprinkles very nicely.) Because there are no strong flavors in this recipe, I have always used butter instead of margarine. One suggestion is make the cookies and cool them and then frost them later, even the next day. That way you have had a chance to clean up the kitchen and do something else. You can freeze the unfrosted cookies for a later date.

3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Sift dry ingredients. Cut in the butter till the mixture is very fine crumbs. Add egg, cream and vanilla. Mix ingredients. Dough will be very stiff. Chill 1/2 hour then divide dough into thirds. Roll each third 1/4 inch thick on generously floured surface, move and flour the surface as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Cut out cookies and bake on parchment paper lined cookie sheets at 400 degrees for 5 to 8 minutes. Scrapes can be rolled out again.  Cool on racks before frosting the cookies. Makes about 50 cookies.
(One warning- treat the dough gently, like pie dough. Over handling can make the cookies tough and cardboard like.)

Frosting for Rolled Sugar Cookies

This recipe makes somewhat more frosting than you will need for just a simple glaze of your cookies. You will not need to make extra if you want to add designs with decorating tips and bag.. 

4 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened
4 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix 1 cup powdered sugar and all the butter until smooth. Add 2 more cups of the powdered sugar, blend well. Add liquids and beat well. Add the last cup of powdered sugar gradually, beating well.

Thanks for the recipe, Narie.

CC recipe for "like Lofthouse sugar cookies:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2303-Like-Lofthouse-iced-soft-sugar-cookies.html

HTH