Bake the Sugar Cookies

1. Add 3 sticks unsalted butter that is room temperature and 1 cup of white sugar to a stand mixer or to a mixing bowl if you are using a hand mixer. Beat on medium until the ingredients are fluffy.

2. Add 1 large egg yolk and 2 tsp. of vanilla to the mixture and mix on medium until blended.

3. Pour in 4 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. of baking powder and 1/2 tsp. of fine salt. Beat the mixture on low until all of the ingredients are combined into a ball.

4. Refrigerate the dough for two hours to chill.

5. Dust a flat surface and a rolling pin with a light sprinkling of flour. Roll the ball of dough into a 1/4-inch-thick slab. Use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut out approximately 36 sugar cookies.

6. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet spaced 1 inch apart. Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 10 minutes until the edges begin to turn brown.

7. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes. Transfer them to a wire baker's rack to cool completely.

Decorate the Cookies

1. Mix 2 cups of powdered sugar and 2 tbsp. of milk in a small bowl until the sugar is dissolved. Smear the glaze over the top of all of the round sugar cookies using a flat spatula. Allow the glaze to set up for 15 minutes at room temperature; do not wait for it to harden completely before continuing to the next step.

2. Begin in the center of each cookie and press a 1-inch hexagon-shaped cookie cutter in the glaze to form an imprint in the glaze. Add a hexagon shape to the right and left sides of the first hexagon so that the shapes are all turned the same direction and the sides are touching.

3. Add a row of hexagon shapes to the top and bottom of the first row. Position the hexagon shapes so that they are all turned the same direction and the shapes line up with one another to form a grid pattern.

4. Outline the hexagon shapes with a tube of black decorator's gel. Fill in every other hexagon with black gel.