Add the 4 sticks (2 cups) of butter and 2 cups of white sugar to your mixer. The butter needs to be softened but still cold. A prime culprit for dry sugar cookie dough is butter that is too warm and soft.

Cream the butter and sugar until it is completely mixed (3 minutes on medium-high should do the trick.)

Add 2 tablespoons of vanilla and 2 eggs.

Mix the cookie dough until light and fluffy (about 3 more minutes.)

Add 4 teaspoons of Baking Powder and mix.

Mix in the 6 cups of flour two cups at a time. Don't over-mix the dough

After you have added the 6 cups of Flour the dough should be firm but not dry or crumbly. If the dough seems to dry, add a tiny bit of vanilla or milk (start with a teaspoon) and mix again.

Roll a handful of the dough out on a prepared surface until it's about 3/8" thick.

Cut out shapes with cookie cutters.

Bake in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees for 6-10 minutes depending on the size of the cookie cutter you used. Do not over-bake! If you make your cookies on the thick side , you should cook them 9-10 minutes. If you roll out thinner cookies, or use smaller cookie cutters than the ones we have used here, you should only bake the cookies 6 or 7 minutes.

Let your cookies cool and then they are ready for frosting.