• Cream shortening and sugar together in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Add your eggs and mix to combine. Add the vanilla and mix again.
• Add 3 cups of flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the bowl and mix well to combine.
• Mix the milk and vinegar together and add it to the cookie dough mixture. Mix well to combine.
• Add the remaining 4 cups of flour and stir until well combined. The dough should be tacky but not gloopy. If you pick it up in your fingers it shouldn’t stick to them though it’s a very soft dough. Add up to 1 cup additional flour as needed.
• Working with ¼ of the dough at a time, roll it out on a well floured surface to ¼ to ½ inch thick. Be generous with your flour on the rolling surface since the dough is very tender, it will stick easily.
• Use cookie cutters to make shapes and transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes.
• Repeat with remaining dough, gathering and re-rolling the scrap dough as you go along.
• Decorate cooled cookies with icing and sprinkles, the messier the better.

To make the frosting:

• Add the butter and cream to the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on medium speed with the whisk attachment, until the butter and cream combine.
• Increase the speed to high and mix for 3 to 5 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy, stopping to scrape down the sides a time or two.
• Add the vanilla and 2.5 cups of the powdered sugar. Mix on low until combined, and then increase speed to medium and whip for 1 to 2 minutes.
• The consistency of the icing is important if you are going to ice sugar cookies with it. It should be a soft-medium consistency and firm, but soft enough to spread with a butter knife.
• If the icing is too thick, mix in a little cream. If it needs to be a little thicker, add a ¼ cup of powdered sugar, and whip to combine until it’s sturdy enough.
• Use icing to frost around 2 dozen medium sugar cookies. It also pipes well, if you’d like to put it in piping bags with tips.