• Preheat oven to 350℉ and line two (or as many as you need) cookie trays with parchment paper or silicone mats and set them aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or using a handheld mixer, beat butter and sugar together on medium-high speed till the mixture gets very pale and fluffy. About 3-5 minutes.
• Next add and mix in vanilla, almond extract and both eggs, one at a time and whisk for good 2-3 minutes again. Now add in salt and baking powder too. Beat again to combine.
• Turn the mixer on low speed and slowly add flour in 3-4 additions. Beat after each addition. Combine only till flour disappears into the dough. The dough must be creamy, yet firm. If you notice that your dough looks crumbly at this stage, you can add up to a tablespoon of milk to get it to a creamy consistency.
• Once the dough is formed divide it into 4 equal parts. You can bake all the cookies right away or you can chill the rest in refrigerator for up to three days. Bring to room temperature before rolling out.

  The dough can also be frozen into ziploc bags or any freezer safe airtight containers at this point to up to 3 months. Roll out one part at a time between 2 large parchment paper sheets to ⅜ of an inch.
• Cut out shapes with your favorite cookie cutters and line them on pre-lined baking trays. Bake for about 9-10 minutes. This time is for when you are baking large cut out cookies. If you cut them with small cutters, the cookies will get ready within 6 minutes.
• Cookies are done baking when their edges look set and their edges look slightly golden. You don't want to brown those edges and yes, you don't need to chill this dough prior to baking. Allow the cookies to cool in the baking trays for 5-7 minutes and then set them on wire rack to finish off cooling. You can also place them in the refrigerator or freezer for about 10 minutes to quicken the cooling process.

Royal Icing:

• Pour confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, food coloring and 9 Tablespoons of water into a large mixing bowl. Using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer with whisk attachment whisk these 3 ingredients together on med-high speed for about 2 minutes.

  If like me you want to tint your cookies into more than one color, make the icing first, divide it into two halves and color it then.
• When you lift the icing up with your whisk, it must drizzle on the rest of the icing and disappear into it in about 7-10 seconds. This is the consistency of the royal icing that you are looking for.
• If you find your icing to be too thick, beat in more water, about a Tablespoon at a time. You'd usually need about 10 Tablespoons of water. But when the days are dry, you might end up using 11-13 Tablespoons of water. The longer you beat the royal icing, the thicker it becomes. If your notice that your royal icing is too thin, just keep beating it for a little longer for it to thicken up or you can add more sifted confectioners’ sugar.
• Draw outlines on the cookies first. Allow it to dry and then flood the cookies with icing. Add sprinkles while the icing is still wet. The icing will dry out completely in about 2 hours. Enjoy!