• The best part of making Christmas cookies is definitely the decorating. You get to personalize your little baked creations, and if you have kids, you get to let them in on the act. So, bust out your pastry bags and gumdrops. It's time to give those gingerbread men some eyes.

• What is Christmas without tins full of lovingly-decorated cookies or the smell of gingerbread men baking in the oven? If you think about it, cookies are downright necessary when it comes to celebrating Christmas. After all, Santa's got to have something to eat when he pops by on Christmas Eve.

• You can decorate your cookies before putting them in the oven. Try one of these pre-baking decorating techniques:

1. Sprinkle course colored sugar on your cookies.
2. Place nuts, colored sprinkles or dragees on your cookies.
3. Mix beaten egg yolks with food coloring, and paint your cookies before they go in the oven.

1. To attach candies to your cookies after baking, use a drop of corn syrup or a dab of royal icing to hold them in place.
2. Dust cookies with powdered sugar.
3. Use a toothpick or small paintbrush to paint details on your cookies.

This recipe will yield approximately 2 1/2 cups of royal icing.

How to make Royal Icing

1. In the bowl of the mixer, whip together the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy.
2. Sprinkle in the sugar gradually. Add the lemon juice and extract, if desired. Continue whipping.
3. Beat the mixture until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Approximately 5 to 7 minutes on high speed.
4. Transfer to a pastry bag, filling to 1/3 full. Use standard tips #2 or #3, and decorate!
   • Thick icing is good for creating a pipe or outline to be filled in with thinner icing.
   • Thin icing is good for filling in an outlined shape or laying a base coat over the entire cookie. Icing can be thinned by adding water.

• Using uncooked, unpasteurized eggs is considered unsafe by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As an alternative, you can make royal icing with meringue powder, which is essentially dried egg with sugar and gum added.

This recipe will yield approximately 3 cups of royal icing.

Instructions

1. In the bowl of the mixer, whip together the sugar and meringue powder.
2. Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice.
3. Add the water. Beat for approximately 5 minutes or until stiff peaks begin to form.
4. Transfer to a pastry bag.