Bring your butter to room temperature first (softened but not melted).

Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy, add eggs one at a time beating well. Add vanilla essence and mix through. Add dry ingredients and mix to combine.

Separate into 3 equal parts, wrap in glad wrap (plastic food wrap) and refrigerat for at least 3 hours (best over night), can be left in fridge for up to 3 days, and can be frozen like this for up to a month.

After it has been chilled, pre heat oven to 180c knead to soften slightly and roll out on a floured board. Cut into desired shapes and bake until just starting to turn colour (for a soft cookie) or until golden (for a crunchy cookie).

These are so easy --

Then ice any which way you want.

Can be stored in an air tight container for up to a week.

You can also add different flavouring instead of the vanilla eg lemon juice and zest, almond extract, cinnamon, etc etc.