For many people, Christmas doesn’t really feel like Christmas until they break out the mixing bowls, rolling pins, cookie cutters, and sprinkles to make and--more importantly--decorate and eat traditional Christmas sugar cookies. These sugar cookies, which have a hint of almond flavor, are exceptionally soft and tender thanks to the addition of cream cheese and sour cream. For an even more decadent experience, the usual sugary icing is swapped out for tangy-sweet cream cheese frosting. The results are so good that they are guaranteed to become a part of your yearly holiday traditions.

Leith Acura of Cary's Christmas Sugar Cookies

Total Preparation Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Active Time: 1 hour

Inactive Time: 30 minutes (8-10 minutes baking time per batch)

Servings: 24 cookies

Cookies:

1/2 cup softened cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup unsalted butter (do not use margarine)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Icing:

4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup softened cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2-4 tablespoons milk

For the Cookies:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar and beat on high speed until the mixture is light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat to incorporate. The mixture will likely look separated.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and add to the cream cheese mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon just until the flour is incorporated. The dough will be soft and slightly sticky.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and cut it in half. Wrap each half in cling-wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

For the Icing:

Place the powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl and add the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla and almond extracts. Beat on high speed until the mixture is crumbly.

Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and beat on medium-high speed. If the icing is too thick, add more milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is thick but spreadable.

Add food coloring as desired, keeping in mind that liquid food coloring will further thin the icing.

To bake cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly spray 2 to 3 cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray.

Sprinkle the work surface lightly with flour and retrieve one package of cold cookie dough.

Roll the cookie dough out to 1/4-inch thickness and cut cookies using a floured cookie cutter. To prevent sticking, dip the cutting edge in flour as you go.

Transfer the cut cookies onto the prepared cookie sheets spaced 2 inches apart.

Place the cookies in the oven to bake 8-10 minutes, or until just barely starting to brown on the edges. Remove the cookies from the oven and, using a metal spatula, transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

When the cookies have cooled completely, spread the icing on the cookies, decorate as desired, and serve.