This is my version of The Island. No time travel or polar bears or Dharma mayonnaise here. All I have is a counter covered in dried royal icing and a stack of the coolest cookies I've ever made. Too bad I don't have a Sawyer. Or a Jack. Or a Jin. Seriously, if you haven't seen the show, just watch for the men. (Can I say that?)

Whether you're making Oceanic airplane cookies or simple rounds for your kid's bake sale or this weekend's Super Bowl party, this recipe is a good one. It's more like shortbread than a sugar cookie, but it's really yummy. And I adapted it from Alton Brown's basic recipe, so you know it's gotta be good. First, I'll give you the recipe, and then I'll give you a few instructions on how to use royal icing.

Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla

1. Cream the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy.
2. While that beats, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
3. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla to the sugar mixture, and beat it until just combined.
4. Add the dry ingredients gradually until just combined.
5. Divide the dough in two, and wrap them in plastic wrap or wax paper. Flatten them into discs about an inch thick or so (easier to roll out later). Stick them in the fridge for a couple of hours. These can stay in the fridge for a couple of days probably, and you can always stick a round well-wrapped in the freezer for later.
6. When you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375 F. Cover a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
7. Coat your counter with powdered sugar. Yes, I said powdered sugar. It's a tip from Alton. Use it instead of flour, and you skip the risk of making your cookies tough with too much flour. Brilliant. Take the round out of the fridge (keep it cold until the last minute), put it on the sugared surface, sprinkle with a little more sugar, and roll it out. A quarter-inch thickness is probably good, but you don't have to get out a ruler. (I did and felt a little obsessive.)
8. Dip your cookie cutters in a little of the powdered sugar, and cut out your cookies. If the dough is cold, the cookies will actually stay in the cutter. It's easier to transport the cookie to the cookie sheet that way, so go with it. Keep a good inch in between in each cookie.
9. Bake 7-9 minutes until the edges or barely golden. Otherwise, you're getting crunchy cookies. Wait a minute or so before you move the cookies from the pan to a wire rack to cool. They must be COMPLETELY cool before you ice them.

A word on the cookies. I liked them. A lot. They did, however, spread out a little more than I would've liked. I cut out a couple of gingerbread men to decorate a Sawyer and Jack for the L O S T premiere; they turned into Hurleys. Maybe we need to cut down on the baking powder? I'm going to make more cookies this weekend for the Super Bowl, and I'll probably try another recipe and see if I can't find one that holds its shape.

Also, the cookies aren't overly sweet on their own. I think that's a really good thing, because you once you layer a bunch of icing on them, you'll be grateful for the balance. Just be warned when you try a cookie on its own and your teeth don't automatically hurt.

Now, onto ICING!

Royal icing is basically powdered sugar liquified with anything from egg whites to lemon juice to boiling water. The goal though is a slippery smooth icing that dries hard and smooth. It's really cool actually. You can achieve designs you never thought you could. Here's how I made it.

• 2 large egg whites
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• a pinch of salt
• 3 cups powdered sugar

If you're weird about raw eggs, you can totally combine a tablespoon or so of boiling water to the powdered sugar until you get the right consistency. I also really appreciate a balance of salty and sweet in desserts. If it's too sweet, by the third cookie it's just not fun anymore. Cookie eating should always be fun. So basically mix the egg whites, lemon juice, and salt together, and then gradually add the powdered sugar. You're looking for a thinnish consistency but not runny. Maybe a bit like pancake batter? Now here comes the decorating goodies.

First thing you need to do is color your icing. Here's my suggestion. Put the basic white icing in one large container. Keep it covered or the icing will dry up. In smaller plastic containers (with lids if you can), mix up all the colors you'll need. Having everything ready makes it so much easier to decorate without getting frazzled and without losing the texture of your icing. These are my food coloring babies. It's food coloring gel - thick and awesome to get rich color without getting runny icing.

Next, you need to outline the cookies. Why? It makes it easier to coat or flood the cookies without the icing falling off the sides. Grab a pastry bag and a thin tip or just a plastic sandwich bag with a tiny tip cut off, and go around the cookies with whatever colored icing you want. These are Charlie's guitars. I added a little melted chocolate to the icing instead of brown food coloring. Duh. Way tastier that way. So these are the guitars outlined.

And these are the guitars flooded. The icing you use to flood is the regular royal icing with a tiny bit of water or milk added to thin it out slightly. It should run off your spoon within ten seconds. Spoon a bit on the cookies, and gently guide the icing up to the border, and it will harden into a smooth, gorgeous finish. Too thin though and it'll seep through the cookie and look kind of gross.

Here are the airplanes flooded. Can you see the border?

And here are the airplanes with the final touches.

Wait to do your detailed decorations until after the flooded icing dries completely, at least two hours.

Not just for Christmas, my friends. Cookies belong in your kitchen the entire year.