sugar cookie recipe

In US and Canada, sugar cookies are quite popular in holidays such as Christmas and Halloween. We usually decorate them with colored sugar or royal icing. This recipe is a simple and traditional recipe and makes 48 cookies:

2.5 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
0.5 teaspoon baking soda
0.25 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375F. Mix salt, backing soda, flour and cream of tartar together well. In a separate bowl, cream butter with sugar. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Add flour mixture to the bowl and beat until well mixed. Place small mounds (about 1 tbsp) of batter on your backing dish and lightly press them. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on racks before serving.