FOR THE COOKIES: Cream the butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla & eggs. Mix until combined. Add the baking powder and flour and mix well.
Shape the dough into a circle/ball & wrap in saran wrap. Cool in the fridge overnight or for several hours.
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough on a floured surface. (I prefer them nice & thick about ½″ but anywhere between ¼″ -1/2″ is good.) Use a 3″- 3½″ circle cookie cutter. Place circles on a parchment lined cookie sheet. (These cookies spread a little while baking, so they don’t do well when cut into other shapes)
Bake for 8-10 minutes (depending on the size of your circle) or until bottoms are a very light brown. Check at 8 minutes & DO NOT overcook or they will be dry. Take them out right when they are done and don’t look wet on top.
FOR THE FROSTING: Cream the butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 4 cups of the powdered sugar, the milk, vanilla & almond extract. Beat till smooth and creamy. Add the remaining sugar, one cup at a time until desired consistency. Add food coloring if desired.
You can pipe the frosting on the cookies or use a knife. I piped it on, then smoothed the top with a knife.
Notes
If you don’t want to roll out the dough and use a round cookie cutter, you can roll the chilled dough into balls and press down with your fingers. They won’t be a perfect circle, but it does cut out the rolling step and covered in frosting, nobody will notice. If you do this, bake for less time as they will be a smaller circle.
Recipe by Baked in AZ at http://bakedinaz.com/heavenly-sugar-cookies-lofthouse-style/