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. (Or place dough in freezer 30 minutes.)
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 at room
temperature up to 2 weeks