Present Cookies

Start with the basic sugar cookie dough. Shape the dough into 2 disks; roll each disk between 2 sheets of wax paper to 1/4 inch thick. Chill until firm, 30 minutes in the refrigerator or 15 minutes in the freezer. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a floured 1-inch square cutter, cut out 105 cookies and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Reroll, chill and cut the scraps, and place on the remaining prepared baking sheets; chill until firm. Bake, rotating the positions of the pans halfway through, until the cookies are lightly golden brown around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Make 1 batch royal icing as directed and tint using gel food color as desired. Transfer to pastry bags fitted with fine tips. For each present, stack 3 cookies, using royal icing to stick layers together. Decorate with remaining royal icing, colored fondant, sanding sugar, sprinkles, or nonpareils as desired.