Kristi's Italian Bakery Butter Cookies (Now Gluten Free!!)

1
Preheat oven to 350°F.
2
In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until really fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well until blended.
3
With mixer on low speed, add flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix just until blended. Overmixing the dough will make it tough to squeeze through a pastry bag.
4
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large open star tip with the cookie dough. Pipe cookies onto parchment-lined cookie sheet, spacing them 2 inches apart. If desired, place a cherry half in the center of each cookie before baking.
5
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until edges begin to brown.
6
Using a metal spatula, lift cookies off cookie sheet and onto wire cooling racks. Cool. Store in an airtight container.
7
Note: For pink or green leaf cookies, tint the dough with a drop or two of red or green food coloring, and use a leaf tip to pipe the shapes. You can then dip the tips of the cookies into melted chocolate and let set on a wire rack.