Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In large bowl, with mixer on low speed,
beat butter and sugar until blended.
Increase speed to high; beat until light
and creamy. On low speed, beat in
egg and vanilla. Beat in flour,
baking powder, and salt until blended.
Divide dough into 4 equal pieces;
flatten each piece into a disk. Wrap
each disk with plastic wrap and
refrigerate 1 hour or until
dough is firm enough to roll
On lightly floured surface, with
floured rolling pin, roll 1 piece of
dough 1/8 inch thick. With floured
3-inch to 4-inch cookie cutters, cut
dough into as many cookies as
possible; wrap and refrigerate
trimmings. Place cookies, 1
inch apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet.
Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes or until
lightly browned. Transfer cookies to
wire rack to cool. Repeat with
remaining dough and trimmings.
When cookies are cool, prepare
Ornamental Frosting, if you like; use along
with sugars and candies to decorate cookies.
Set cookies aside to allow frosting to
dry completely, about 1 hour. Store in
tightly covered container (with waxed paper
between layers if decorated) at room
temperature up to 2 weeks,
or in freezer up to 3 months.