The whole point of this recipe is that you don't use powdered sugar to make it. You want to use granulated. It's very easy to make icing/frosting with powdered sugar - you don't have to go to this extra trouble. But the extra effort is worth it here. I have made this with just 2T of flour and it's turned out fine, in case you are having issues with it being "floury" tasting. Make sure the flour and milk combination is room temp before mixing with butter/sugar; make sure the butter is room temp before you mix it with the sugar; make sure that you beat the final product until it is thicker than whipped cream. Also, try almond extract instead of vanilla. Make it a day ahead of time and leave it out at room temp overnight. The sugar crystals will dissolve into the butter and the consistency gets creamier. It tastes better on day 2 and even better the next, if there's any left. This frosting is definitely worth the extra effort.

Reviewed On: Mar. 2, 2011

I was encouraged by all of the good reviews so I tried it for my birthday cake. The two teaspoons of vanilla turned the batter a darker color which ended up being kind of gray. I added a little extra sugar and 1/4 tsp. almond extract which was recommended by other reviewers. I also used cake flour instead of all-purpose. The biggest problem was bake time. The recipe says 30-35 minutes so I set it for 30. It was very brown and would have burned if left a minute longer. The flavor was blah and it was a very dense and dry cake. What made it edible was the frosting, which is the one used with the White Chocolate Cake recipe on Allrecipes. I've used this other cake recipe many times with great success, but I wanted just a simple white cake this time because I can never taste the white chocolate flavor in the other cake. I will find a different white layer cake recipe next time.

Reviewed On: Jun. 5, 2010

This is the perfect cookie, with these changes: 1. Leave out the egg. 2. Add 1/4 cup more of flour. 3. Add 1 TB milk. With these changes, it is the butter cookie that has been passed down in my family and is irresistable especially when combined with icing. I used to make a buttercream frosting, until this year, when I tried the Sugar Cookie Icing recipe here at allrecipes.com. The recipe has Karo Syrup in it, which when dry, allows you to stack the cookies on top of each other and you don't even need wax paper to divide the layers. But if you want gooey frosting for the cookies and you don't care as much about storing them, just combine 1/4 cup butter with as much powdered sugar and milk to make the amount you need (and don't forget the almond extract because that is what makes these cookies special). I would have combined the icing recipe with the cookie recipe because it's the combo that makes this cookie great.

Reviewed On: Dec. 28, 2009