Holiday Cutouts

Preparation Follow recipe for basic butter cookies, forming dough into 2 balls (instead of a log) and flattening each into a 6-inch disk. Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour. 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. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, chill on a baking sheet until firm.) 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. If garnishing, sprinkle cookies with glitter or nonpareils. 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. Gather scraps and chill until firm enough to reroll, 10 to 15 minutes. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll only once) and bake on cooled sheets. 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). Spoon each color icing into a bag, pressing out excess air, and snip an 1/8-inch opening in 1 corner of each bag. Twist each bag firmly just above icing, then decoratively pipe icing onto cookies. Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour, depending on humidity) before storing cookies. *Available at New York Cake & Baking Distributor (800-942-2539). Cooks' notes: Dough can be chilled up to 3 days.* Cookies (with or without icing) keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.* For this photograph and the cover, we thinned some icing for spreading, then covered the cookies with icing and sprinkled glitter onto the icing before it set. We also piped some decorative icing around edges and then sprinkled with nonpareils.* The FDA objects to the consumption of any metallic colors (even those labeled "edible") in confectionery products because there is no evidence to support their safe use.

Preparation Follow recipe for basic butter cookies, forming dough into 2 balls (instead of a log) and flattening each into a 6-inch disk. Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour. 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. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, chill on a baking sheet until firm.) 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. If garnishing, sprinkle cookies with glitter or nonpareils. 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. Gather scraps and chill until firm enough to reroll, 10 to 15 minutes. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll only once) and bake on cooled sheets. 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). Spoon each color icing into a bag, pressing out excess air, and snip an 1/8-inch opening in 1 corner of each bag. Twist each bag firmly just above icing, then decoratively pipe icing onto cookies. Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour, depending on humidity) before storing cookies. *Available at New York Cake & Baking Distributor (800-942-2539). Cooks' notes: Dough can be chilled up to 3 days.* Cookies (with or without icing) keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.* For this photograph and the cover, we thinned some icing for spreading, then covered the cookies with icing and sprinkled glitter onto the icing before it set. We also piped some decorative icing around edges and then sprinkled with nonpareils.* The FDA objects to the consumption of any metallic colors (even those labeled "edible") in confectionery products because there is no evidence to support their safe use.