Anne's Basic Sugar Cookies

A quick sugar cookie recipe is a lifesaver during the holidays... or on any day. And this method is so simple, I'm a little embarrassed to call it a recipe. It's what you do with it that counts. Roll and cut into your favorite shapes. Or roll balls in coarse sugar before baking. Form the dough into a log, then slice and bake. Turn them into snickerdoodles by adding cinnamon to the sugar. Or give these cookies a completely new look by folding in sprinkles before baking. The possibilities are limitless! Store, lightly covered, at room temperature, for 1 week.

Ingredients

• 1 (15.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 0.5 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 large egg white
• sugar sprinkles for decorating

Steps

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Combine cake mix, butter, egg, vanilla, and almond extract in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the mixture comes together into a sticky ball, 30 to 45 seconds.
3. Roll the dough to 1/4- to 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured board with a lightly floured rolling pin. Use cookie cutters to stamp out shapes and place them 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. (You can reroll the dough scraps once and cut out more cookies.) Brush the cookies with egg white and decorate with sprinkles.
4. Place one pan in the oven at a time. Bake until the edges of the cookies are golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes for smaller cookies and 10 to 12 minutes for larger. Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for 1 minute, then remove to wire racks with a metal spatula to cool completely, about 20 minutes.