Whisk flour and salt together in a small bowl to aerate and combine; set aside.

Place butter in bowl of mixer and beat with flat paddle on medium-high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes.  (Or use hand-held electric mixer, beaters and a large bowl). Add sugar gradually and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice; beat in vanilla extract. Add egg and beat well until combined, again scraping down the bowl once or twice.

Turn machine off, add about one-third of the flour, then turn machine onto low-speed. Gradually add remaining flour, mixing just until blended, scraping down bowl once or twice. Form into a very flat disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or until firm enough to roll. Dough may be refrigerated overnight but it is easier to work with when just chilled.

Meanwhile, position racks in lower and upper oven. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line two cookie sheet pans with parchment paper.

Remove cookie dough from refrigerator and roll out to 1/4 inch (6 mm) thickness on lightly floured parchment paper; I like to lightly flour the rolling pin too. Cut out cookies with shapes of choice. Transfer cookies to prepared pans placing 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) apart. Decorate with colored sugars or regular sugar either in decorative patterns or freeform using photograph for ideas. Leave unadorned if you will be decorating with icing after cooling. Check out our Decorated Sugar Cookie recipe to see icing ideas if you haven’t yet.

Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until edges have just begun to turn light golden brown. Slide parchment onto racks to cool cookies completely. Cool pans between batches and repeat with remaining dough. Cookies may be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 month.