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Looking to wow people at the Christmas cookie swap this year? Look no further than these gorgeous cookies. We know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but these stunners truly redefine "ugly sweater." These are nearly too pretty to eat, so perhaps pair them with our Italian rainbow cookies, Santa's trash cookies, and snowball cookies so people still have something sweet to eat while they marvel at your sugar cookie art.

You'll start by making a simple sugar cookie dough and cutting it into a sweater shape. Once baked, you'll make royal icing that can be colored as many ways as you like. Red, white, and green are a great place to start. Use the pictures here to guide you, or try to re-create your go-to ugly sweater.

Here are some tips for the most successful cookie making:

• Roll the dough out between sheets of parchment before chilling. This ensures a nice and smooth dough with an even thickness.

• You can reroll dough scraps once to get more cookies, but the dough will become a bit tough after that. 

• Make sure cookies are well chilled before going into the oven so they hold their shape. 

• To make webbing designs like the cookie second from the left on the top row, pipe rows of icing onto the flooded cookies while they're still wet, then drag a toothpick through the rows.

• You'll use meringue powder to make the icing for these cookies. It's made mostly of dried egg whites (rather than raw egg white, which isn't super food-safe) and is a great shortcut product for whisking up cookie icing. You can find it at your local baking supply or craft stores.

(360 g.) all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

Food coloring and sprinkles, for decorating (optional)