In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add salt and flour and mix until ingredients are combined. Pat the dough into a ball, wrap it with plastic wrap or cover it carefully, and chill it for 3 to 4 hours in the refrigerator.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured board to 1/4- 1/2 inch thick. Cut the shapes with the cookie cutter. Transfer cookies onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone liners. (Optional - extra step - chill the cookies again in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes before putting them in the oven.)

Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Let cookies cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

Using the whisk attachment on your electric mixer, mix together the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water at high speed for two minutes. Gradually add the black food coloring to get the desired shade of black. Continue mixing until food coloring is incorporated.

The icing should be just liquid enough to drip down from the whisk/beater into the bowl and then "pool" into the bowl (as opposed to being stiff). If it is too stiff, add more water a little at a time.

Scoop out a few tablespoons into a snack-sized plastic bag (preferably Ziploc or self-sealing). Snip a tiny corner off of the bag to make your icing spout. Then carefuly stream a line of icing all around the edge of your cookie.

Continue squeezing out icing to fill inside the lines. Then use a toothpick to smooth out the icing so there are no gaps or bubbles. If your icing is the right consistency, it should "pool" together to make a clean and glossy surface. Let the cookies sit for at least 2 hours or more to dry the first round of icing.

When the black icing layer has dried, prepare the white icing: Mix the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water in a mixing bowl with whisk attachment at high speed for two minutes. Again, the icing should be liquid enough to drip from the whisk and then pool and look glossy when it falls into the bowl. If it is too thick, add more water; if it is too thin; add more powdered sugar.

Scoop the white icing into another snack-sized plastic bag. Seal the bag and cut a tiny hole in one corner of the bag. Carefully squeeze one line of icing to make the brim of the hat. Then squeeze the outline of the mask face (as shown), leaving a hole for the eye. Fill in the mask and use a toothpick to smooth out the white mask face, making sure to leave a hole in the cener for the eye.

Let the icing harden for at least 2 hours before plating and presenting. Serves 10 (approximately two cookies apiece, depending on the size of your cookie cutter.)