Hana's Sugar Cookies

My friend Hana is an amazing cook.  Recently, she's added "cookier" to her list of culinary and artistic accomplishments.  She makes the most amazing sugar cookies - works of art, really - that she sells under high demand.  I'm not a fan of sugar cookies, but this recipe is delicious.  She decorates the cookies using the flooding technique, resulting in absolutely amazing creations.  She was gracious enough to share the recipe :).

Ingredients

(I usually 4 times recipe. 2 batches, two times.)

Cookies:

• 1 c. butter (must be real butter)
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 T. milk
• 1½ tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3 cups flour

Frosting:

       Melt in a small saucepan (heat, but do not boil):

• 1/2 c butter
• 1/4 c. evaporated milk

      Take off cook top and add:

• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 lb. powdered sugar, about 4 cups

      (These ratios are great for icing cookies with a butter knife.  For flooding see direction below.)

Directions

Cream butter, sugar, and egg. Add the dry ingredients and the milk and vanilla. Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour for easier handling if you have time. Roll out thick. Cut dough with favorite cookie cutters and place on cookie sheets. Bake at 400 degrees for about 7-9 minutes. Watch the cookies for doneness. They are done when they no longer look wet, but before they've browned any on the edges.

Flooding icing:

Start with your floor consistency.  Add a few cups of powdered sugar to a bowl and then add some of the condensed milk/butter/vanilla mixture.  Use a hand mixer to combine.  Add more powdered sugar or more liquid mix until you get to the flooding consistency.  This should be a 3-4 second drag with a butter knife.  Meaning when you drag a butter knife through the icing the indent should settle to even (completely disappear) in 3-4 seconds.  Once to the correct consistency add your food coloring of choice and put almost all of the icing into piping bags.  Then use the little left in the bowl to add powdered sugar to until your icing is thicker for the outline.  Too thick and it's hard to squeeze out.  Too thin and it flows too fast and can roll off your cookies.  While working if any of your icing bags become too solid, take of metal tip and microwave for 4-6 seconds.