Sugar-Cookie Cutouts

1/3 cup butter, softened 1/3 cup vegetable shortening 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder Dash salt 1 large egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour

Powdered Sugar Glaze (recipe follows)
Decorative Frosting (recipe follows)

Beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping bowl. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill dough for 3 hours or until easy to handle.
On a lightly floured surface, roll half at a time to 1/8 inch thickness. Using a 2-1/2 inch cookie or biscuit cutter, cut into desired shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake in a 375°F (190°C) oven 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool on a rack.
To Decorate: Glaze with white or tinted Powdered Sugar Glaze. Let dry.
Prepare Decorative Frosting.
Pipe dots or lines with white or tinted Decorative Frosting. Let dry.
For swirled tops, glaze cookies as above. Using 1 teaspoon of milk at a time, thin some of the white or tinted Decorative Frosting until drizzling consistency. Scatter dots of thinned frosting on top of freshly glazed stars. To swirl, pull a wooden toothpick through dots.

Makes about 36 cookies.

Powdered Sugar Glaze: In a medium mixing bowl combine 4 cups sifted powdered sugar and 1/4 cup milk. Stir in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until glaze is easy to drizzle. Tint as desired with paste food coloring.

Decorative Frosting: In a medium mixing bowl, stir together 4 cups of powdered sugar and the 3 tablespoons of milk until smooth. Stir in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until frosting is easy to pipe. Tint frosting as desired with paste food coloring.

Make-Ahead Tip: Wrap dough in plastic wrap. Place in an airtight or freezer container. Chill up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in refrigerator before using. Or, bake and cool cookies completely. Do not frost. In an airtight or freezer container, arrange cookies in a single layer; cover with a sheet of waxed paper. Repeat layers, leaving enough air space to close container easily. Seal, label, and freeze up to 1 month.

Nutritional facts per serving: calories: 74, total fat: 4g, saturated fat: 2g, cholesterol: 10mg, sodium: 33mg, carbohydrate: 9g, fiber: 0g, protein: 1g, vitamin A: 1%, vitamin C: 0%, calcium: 1%, iron: 2%