• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking pan with parchment.
• In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  
• Using a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar and cream using a hand mixer.
• Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract.
• On low speed, add 1/4 of the dry ingredients and mix until well distributed. Continue to add flour, 1/4 cup at a time until all is mixed in and combined.
  
• Sprinkle some flour on a hard surface. Place some of the dough on the hard surface and use a rolling pin to make it about 1/4 inch thick.
  
• Using a circle cookie cutter, cut out 12 round shapes from the dough and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet.
  
• Bake for 10-12 minutes and let cool on a wire rack.
  
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

How to decorate the cookies?

• Melt the shortening in a double boiler. Add the green candy melts and stir until completely melted. Pour into a small microwave-safe bowl to make it easier to handle.
  
• Using a spatula, ice each cookie with the melted chocolate. You will have to work fairly quickly as the chocolate will harden within 10 minutes
• Unwrap each Airheads candy piece. These will be the turtle masks. Use kitchen or craft scissors to cut each piece to fit the width of your cookie.
  
• On both sides of each “mask” piece, cut a small indentation with your scissors. Set aside.
• If your cookies have not hardened yet, gently place the mask in the middle of each cookie and it will attach to the cookie once it hardens. Otherwise, pipe a small amount of cookie icing on the back of each mask and gently place on each cookie.
  
• Dab a small amount of icing to the back of two candy eyes and place on each mask.
• With the black cookie icing, pipe a smile on each turtle.