Create an edible barnyard by tinting dough with paste food coloring. For sheep, press balls of dough together. The rooster is free-form, too; the others use cookie cutters. For the pig and cow, roll pieces of different colored doughs together. Embellish the barn with a tinted dough wreath and rafters before baking; use tubes of purchased frosting for details.

Prep: 1 1/2 hours   Bake: 15 minutes   Oven: 300°

1 recipe Sugar Cookie Dough
Paste food colorings (rose, brown, leaf green, golden yellow, Christmas red, or red-no taste)
Coarse sugar (optional)
Purchased frosting, white, red, and green, for trims (optional)

1. Prepare Sugar Cookie Dough as directed; divide in half. Leave half plain. Divideremaining dough into small portions; tint as desired, using food colorings.

2. To bake all cookies, place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in a 300° oven 15 minutes or until edges are set but bottoms are not brown. Cool on cookie sheets on a wire rack for 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely. Pipe colored frosting atop cookies using a pastry bag and small round or leaf tips, as desired. Spread white frosting atop barn for snow. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. If desired, sprinkle powdered sugar over sheep’s body. Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Cow, pig, and barn cookies:
For cows, on a lightly floured surface roll plain dough to about 3/8-inch thickness. Add small pieces colored dough on top. Place a piece of parchment or waxed paper on top of dough. Finish rolling dough (atop parchment) to 1/4-inch thickness. Peel off parchment. Cut shapes with cow cutter; place 1-inch apart on cookie sheet. For striped pig, roll pink dough as directed for cow (3/8-inch thickness); place a strip of plain dough on top and continue to roll as directed. If desired, sprinkle with coarse sugar. For barn, roll red dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Roll brown dough to 1/8-inch thickness; cut into strips. Make a green dough wreath, shaping by hand. Press strips and wreath gently onto barn.

Rooster:
Shape different colors of dough to make a body, tail feathers, a beak, and feet. On a cookie sheet, lightly press pieces of dough together. For rooster comb, use a knife to cut slits in a red ball of dough. The thickness of an unbaked cookie should be 1/2 inch or less.

Sheep:
Roll small balls of plain dough in varying sizes (1/4- to 1/2-inch). Place balls tightly together on cookie sheet to make a rough rectangle about 2x1 1/2 inches. Some very small balls can sit on top of other balls. Add a ball for top of head. Add a half-ball of brown dough for face. Press it against other balls. Make 4 brown legs; press into bottom of sheep.