Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond and vanilla extracts, and egg yolk. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour until well blended. Chill the dough for 8 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/3 at a time to 1/8 inch thickness, refrigerating remaining dough until ready to use. Cut into desired shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Leave cookies plain for frosting, or brush with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with candy sprinkles or colored sugar.

Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies completely before frosting.

I've been looking for a cream cheese sugar cookie recipe for a long time. These were really good. They were soft and moist and had just the right amount of cream cheese flavor. My new sugar cookie recipe, for sure.

Adapted from Allrecipes.com.