Cookies

• Cream together the butter and sugar for 1-2 minutes or until light and fluffy in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a hand mixer on medium speed.
  1 cup unsalted butter, ¾ cup granulated sugar
• Add the eggs one at a time, being sure to fully incorporate each egg before adding the next, followed by the whole milk and almond extract. Mix until fully combined. Scrape the bowl and beater as needed to ensure even mixing.
  3 large eggs, 3 tablespoons whole milk, 1 teaspoon almond extract
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
  2¾ cups all-purpose flour, 2½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
• With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour until fully incorporated. The batter will be very thick. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all the flour has been evenly incorporated.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes or until the batter has chilled enough to easily be scooped and rolled into smooth balls before baking.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Using a 1½-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop a level amount of dough, place the dough ball into the palm of your hand and gently roll into a smooth ball. Place the dough ball onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough until all the cookies have been shaped and placed onto the baking sheets. Each baking sheet should hold 12 dough balls spaced 2 inches apart.
• Bake the cookies in the center of the oven (1-2 baking sheets at a time according to the size of your oven) for 10-12 minutes or just until the tops are still pale and the bottoms are just barely golden around the edges. If only baking 1 sheet at a time, you can refrigerate the other prepared cookies until ready to bake.
• Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies need to be completely cool before adding the glaze and sprinkles.
• Glaze
• Whisk together in a medium bowl the powdered sugar, almond extract and 2 tablespoons milk until smooth. Add the third tablespoon of milk if needed to achieve a consistency that is similar to honey or maple syrup. It should be thin enough to easily dip the tops of the cookies into, yet thick enough to hold its shape and not run down the sides of the cookies.
  2 cups powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon almond extract, 2-3 tablespoons whole milk
• Dip the top of a cooled cookie into the glaze, allowing all the excess glaze to drip back into the bowl, then place back onto the wire rack. Repeat with 2-3 more cookies before adding the sprinkles to the tops of the glazed cookies. Dipping 3-4 cookies, then going back to add the sprinkles gives the glaze just enough time to start to set, yet still be plenty soft, so that the sprinkles do not slide off the top of the cookie but do stick to the glaze when added. Repeat until all the cookies have been glazed and garnished with sprinkles.
  Rainbow-colored nonpareil sprinkles
• Allow the cookies to sit at room temperature until the glaze has fully hardened before plating or stacking for storage.