Deck the halls with a selection of colourful iced gingerbread cookies. When you finish decking the halls, hang them on the tree, or use them as place cards or gift tags. You can omit outlining the cookies with Royal Icing as seen in the photo, but this step adds a lovely neat touch, especially for novices.

What you'll need:
Gingerbread Cookie Dough
Royal Icing
Icing Paint
Assorted candies, coloured coarse sugar and sprinkles and silver dragées

To make:
Working with one-quarter of the dough at a time, roll between waxed paper to scant 1/4-inch (5 mm) thickness. Using 3- to 4-inch (8 to 10 cm) Christmas cookie cutters, cut out shapes. Peel away scraps. Slide paper and dough onto rimless baking sheet; refrigerate until firm, 30 minutes.

Transfer as many pieces to parchment paper-lined rimless baking sheets as can fit 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. With blunt end of wooden skewer, poke hole through tops. Bake in top and bottom thirds of 325°F (160°C) oven, rotating and switching pans halfway through, until firm to the touch, about 18 minutes. While still hot, twist skewer through existing holes to enlarge. Transfer to racks; let cool completely.

Using small piping bag fitted with small plain tip and 1/2 cup (125 mL) of the Royal Icing, pipe outline around edges of cookies. Let dry on rack, about 2 hours.

Tint 1/2 cup (125 mL) of the Icing Paint green and 1/4 cup (50 mL) red. If desired, tint 2 tsp (10 mL) of the Icing Paint yellow for brooms and 2 tsp (10 mL) black for top hats. Leave remaining Icing Paint white.

Using small brush and working inside outline, paint snowmen with white icing paint and trees with green icing paint. While wet, stick on candies for face, hat, buttons and brooms. Let dry completely on rack, about 4 hours. Paint scarves and toques red. Let dry, about 2 hours.

With darning needle, thread ribbon through holes.

Makes about 100 cookies.

Per cookie (without candy decoration): about 87 cal, 1 g pro, 2 g total fat (1 g sat. fat), 16 g carb, trace fibre, 10 mg chol, 63 mg sodium. % RDI: 2% calcium, 6% iron, 2% vit A, 5% folate.