FOR THE SHORTBREAD BUTTER COOKIES

1. Whisk together the flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. With the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, mix the butter and sugar together on medium-high until super light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl down a few times.
3. With the mixer on medium-low speed, blend in the vanilla.
4. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
5. Turn the dough out on a clean surface and gather into three dough balls, flatten into disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour before rolling it out.
6. Gather your cookie cutters and be sure to think out of the box and get creative with shapes, (watching your favorite Christmas movies helps with inspiration).
7. Allow the dough disks to soften for a few minutes on the counter before rolling out. Then roll the dough disks to about 1/4" thick.
8. Use your cookie cutter to cut shapes and transfer to a lined baking sheet to chill in the fridge or freezer. Gather the scraps and re-roll and cut again until you've used all of the dough.
9. I like to freeze my cookies to stabilize the cookies and retain the shape while they bake.
10. Once the cookies have properly chilled, preheat the oven to 350°
11. Place cookies on lined baking sheets a least 2" apart and bake for 10-15 minutes (depending on the sizes and shapes of the cookies) until they just start to turn a golden brown around the edges and feel firm on the top.
12. Allow to cool on sheets or transfer to cooling racks before icing.

FOR DECORATING

1. Liquid or gel food coloring (gels are available at decorating or kitchen shops)
2. Decorating kit and several additional pastry bags or plastic squeeze bottles, if using multiple colors
3. Make icing.
4. In a medium mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, lightly whisk the egg whites and lemon juice. Add 3 1/2 cups of the sifted confectioners sugar and beat well until smooth and glossy; for cookie decorating, it should pause slightly before it streams off the tip of the beater. If the icing is too thick, add more egg white or lemon juice (icing may take longer to dry if thinned with lemon juice); if it’s too thin, add more confectioners’ sugar. If not using immediately, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. After storing, whisk before pouring into small bowls to add color.
5. Test icing.
6. Before you fill a pastry bag, test icing again with a spoon; for detail work, it should pause slightly before it streams off the tip of a spoon. For covering the whole cookie, you’ll want it slightly thinner, which will cause it to stream off the spoon immediately.
7. Add color, fill pastry bags.
8. Divide icing among small bowls and stir in food coloring a few drops at a time until desired color is reached. Transfer icing to plastic squeeze bottle or a pastry sleeve fitted with a gasket and No. 4 tip. (To fill pastry bag, place bag tip side down in a tall measuring cup or pint glass, with point folded up.) Practice piping icing on parchment paper or counter before decorating cookies.
9. Flooding: To “flood” or cover cookie surface, ice the outline of the cookie and then pipe to fill in empty spaces. Smooth with an offset spatula if necessary. Let dry for at least an hour before continuing with raised designs.
10. Raised designs: To dry base layer, add piped borders, stripes or other decorations to make raised designs. For a sparkling effect, apply colored sugar to wet icing then tip the cookie to remove excess sugar. You can use coarser decorating sugar as well; apply and let the cookies sit for about 15 minutes before removing excess sugar.
11. Marbleizing: For a marbleized look, flood cookie surface. Add stripes or dots in a second color, then drag a toothpick through.