In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl beat the butter and sugar until light, using a hand mixer.

Add the egg, lemon zest and vanilla extract and beat until just combined.

Fold in the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.

Divide the dough in half. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and freeze for 10 minutes or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to ¼-in. thickness. Cut out cookies using a coffee mug cookie cutter and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes or until they begin to brown around the edges.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Decorate the cookies with royal icing if desired. Let the icing dry completely before storing the cookies.

In a large bowl beat the confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder until combined.

Gradually add the WARM water and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Add more sugar or water to achieve the desired consistency. The right consistency for decorating the cookies is when you lift the beater and the ribbon of icing that falls into the bowl remains on the surface of the icing for 2-3 seconds and then disappears.

Tint ¾ of the icing with red food coloring gel. You will need about ⅛ teaspoon.

Once the royal icing is ready, use it immediately.

Use tip # 8 for outlining and filling “the mug part” of the cookie and tip # 32 for filling “the cream part”. (Wilton Tips #1, 2, 3 and 4 will work as well).

Transfer the icing into the icing bags.

Begin decorating your least favourite cookies first. If something goes wrong, it won’t matter as much.

Outline the mug part of the cookie and fill it with the red royal icing.

Fill the “cream part” of the cookie with the white royal icing.

Draw a snowflake in the centre of each cookie using the white royal icing.

Optional: Draw a thin line (horizontal) with caramel between “the mug and cream part”.

Once you’ve finished applying the icing to the cookie, shake it gently to help settle the bumps if there are any.