Combine powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons half-and-half, vanilla extract and almond extract (if using) in a medium-size bowl. Mix until smooth. The glaze should be fairly thick, but pourable. Add a little more half-and-half if too thick. Add more powdered sugar if it’s too thin. (See the picture above in the post.)
Add a bit of pink gel food coloring (I use a toothpick) or a few drops of pink liquid food coloring and stir well to combine. Add more food color if needed to achieve the desired color.
Transfer the glaze to a small shallow bowl (a little larger than your cookies).
Hold onto the edges of a cookie and dip the top surface into the glaze, being sure all of the surface touches the glaze. Pull the cookie straight up out of the glaze and allow the excess glaze to drip into the bowl for about 15-20 seconds. (You can gently shake the cookie back and forth and up and down to get it to drip a little faster.)
Then quickly flip the cookie to the right side up and give it a gentle jiggle to allow the glaze to flow evenly over the surface.
Repeat with the remaining cookies. Gently press 6-10 of the mini chocolate chips into the icing randomly or in a pattern.
Place cookies on a wire cooling rack to dry for at least 3-4 hours before adding the green (rind) icing.
See pictures and a video in the post above, demonstrating this Dip, Drip and Flip technique.