Lemon Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheets or line with parchment. (see notes below)
• In medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt.
• (I use my stand mixer with flex edge beater to mix these up, you could also use a hand mixer with (regular) turbo beaters to mix them as well.)
• In large bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar. This will take several minutes – it should be fluffy and lighter in color. Beat in egg and vanilla, lemon extract and lemon zest.
• Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just combined. Chill dough in refrigerator for 45 minutes to 1-hour, this helps make the sticky dough a little easier to work with. You can chill overnight, but you’ll need to let it sit out for about 20 minutes before scooping and rolling as it will be very firm.
• Scoop 2-tablespoon portions of dough and roll into balls.
• Place the balls 2-inches apart on greased or parchment lined baking sheets. (I use the shiny half-sheet pans)
• Butter the bottom of a flat-bottomed drinking glass. Spread some sugar on a small plate.
• Dip the buttered glass in the sugar and use to press down on the cookie balls.
• Hold the glass level and press until the cookie is a little thicker than a 1/4-inch. Repeat until all the balls are flattened.
• Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are evenly domed on the top and you'll be able to see the center's are just cooked through. Time may vary depending on oven.
• Let cool on baking sheet 1-minute before removing to cooling rack.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

• In large bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese, lemon zest, 2 cups of powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
• Add a tablespoon lemon juice, the rest of the powdered sugar – gradually and as much lemon juice as needed to reach desired consistency. Use food coloring to color the frosting if desired.
• Frost the cookies and add sprinkles if desired. After frosting, let the cookies sit out for an hour or two and the frosting will firm up a little bit on the top.
• Then you can store for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freeze. Layer them between sheets of waxed or parchment paper to help protect the frosting from smushing.