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1
Follow recipe for basic butter cookies, forming dough into 2 balls (instead of a log) and flattening each into a 6-inch disk.
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2
Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
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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.
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4
(If dough becomes too soft to roll out, chill on a baking sheet until firm.)
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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.
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6
If garnishing, sprinkle cookies with glitter or nonpareils.
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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.
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8
Gather scraps and chill until firm enough to reroll, 10 to 15 minutes.
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9
Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll only once) and bake on cooled sheets.
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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).
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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.
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12
Twist each bag firmly just above icing, then decoratively pipe icing onto cookies.
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13
Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour, depending on humidity) before storing cookies.
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14
*Available at New York Cake & Baking Distributor (800-942-2539).
