Holiday Cutouts

Directions

1. 1
   Follow recipe for basic butter cookies, forming dough into 2 balls (instead of a log) and flattening each into a 6-inch disk.
2. 2
   Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
3. 3
   While oven preheats, roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining dough chilled) into a 9-inch round (slightly less than 1/4 inch thick) on a well-floured surface with a well-floured rolling pin.
4. 4
   (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, chill on a baking sheet until firm.)
5. 5
   Cut out as many cookies as possible from dough with cutters and transfer to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging cookies about 1 inch apart.
6. 6
   If garnishing, sprinkle cookies with glitter or nonpareils.
7. 7
   Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are pale golden, 8 to 10 minutes total, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely.
8. 8
   Gather scraps and chill until firm enough to reroll, 10 to 15 minutes.
9. 9
   Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll only once) and bake on cooled sheets.
10. 10
    If coloring icing, transfer 1/4 cup icing to a small bowl for each color and tint with food coloring (if using plain white icing, spoon into 1 bag).
11. 11
    Spoon each color icing into a bag, pressing out excess air, and snip an 1/8-inch opening in 1 corner of each bag.
12. 12
    Twist each bag firmly just above icing, then decoratively pipe icing onto cookies.
13. 13
    Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour, depending on humidity) before storing cookies.
14. 14
    *Available at New York Cake & Baking Distributor (800-942-2539).