• Softened at room temperature for about 45 minutes before you start making cookies. Whisk the flour and salt in a small bowl. Place the softened butter, sugar,and lemon zest on low speed until the sugar is incorporated. Raise the speed to medium and beat another 2-3 minutes until the color is lighter and fluffy . Cream on high speed until fluffy for about 4 minutes.
  
• Add the egg and vanilla and continue beating until just combined.
  
• Reduce the speed to low and gradually add in the flour mixture
  
• Beat until just combined
  

Chill the dough:

• Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and use your hands to push it together to form a dough. Don't knead it.
  
• Flatten into a thick disc.
  
• Wrap them up and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. I left mine overnight in the fridge
  

When ready to bake and shape:

• When ready to bake the cookies, remove the cookies from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes to soften a little bit. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) for conventional oven, 330 F (165 C) for convection oven, and position rack in the middle of the oven
• Set the dough on a lightly floured dough mat or a plastic wrap. Lightly flour the dough and your rolling pin. Cover the dough with a plastic wrap to prevent it from cracking when you roll it out. Roll it into about 1/4-inch thick.
  
• Use a 3-inch round cookie cutter dipped in flour, to cut it out into a round shape
  
• I gather all the cut-out bits here and there and roll it out again and I manage to make few more cookies from that.
• Arrange on ungreased baking sheets, about 1-inch apart
  

Bake the cookies:

• I recommend baking one tray at a time. Keep the unbaked tray in the fridge while waiting for the oven. Bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes. The cookies won't color much
  

Cool the cookies:

• Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a rack and let them cool completely before decorating
  

Prepare the white icing:

• Combine all the ingredients for icing and stir until smooth and to the consistency that is flowy but not too runny for the white icing.
  
• Transfer to a piping bag. Cut off the tip and start drawing a border on the cookie and then flood the surface of the cookie with the rest of the icing
  
• 
• Let this white layer set completely before decorating with colored icing for the snake. This is to prevent the colors from bleeding into each other
  

Prepare the colored icing and decorate:

• Combine all the ingredients for icing and stir until smooth and to the consistency that is flowy but slightly thicker than the white icing you prepared earlier.
• Portion out into several different bowls (depending on how many colors you want to make). Add the gel food color into each bowl and stir to combine
  
• Start drawing the snake using the colored icing.
  
• 

Let the icing dry:

• Let the icing set completely on a cooling rack. I left them for 3-4 hours on a cool dry place. You can even leave them overnight