Cookies Worth Making from Scratch

I'm not a huge cookie fan.  I'll eat them (often more than I should), but I don't flutter my eyelashes at the thought of sugar cookies.  In fact sugar cookies kind of fall into the same category as birthday cake from the grocery, boxed pudding, and peanut brittle: not worth the calories.
But THESE sugar cookies are worth every stinkin calorie!  They even stay soft, which is a big deal round here.  The original recipe is from here, and if you haven't skipped over to Cafe Sucre Farin, you're missing out.  If you're not a "from scratch" kind of girl, these cookies are a good place to start out.

Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 stick butter, softened

1 large egg

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In mixing bowl, cream the sugars and the butter. Mix in egg, set aside. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and cream of tartar. Add the oil and the flour mixture alternately to creamed sugars, mixing after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Cover and chill in refrigerator three to four hours or in the freezer for 30 mins.

Heat oven to 350.

Roll dough into small balls, 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter. Place on cookies sheet that has been lined with parchment paper and flatten with the bottom of a glass, using a small square of wax or parchment paper to keep the dough from sticking to the bottom of the glass.

Bake 10-12 minutes.

Lemon Icing (pink above)

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

Sugar Icing (green above)

2 cups powdered sugar

3-4 Tbs. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract