School is letting out for Christmas break today and so the celebrating is really about to start.  No more homework, alarm clocks or after school activities to interrupt the fun.  One tradition always on our to-do list is decorating Christmas cookies.  We’ve been doing it since the kids were tiny and it is always fun to look back at the pictures year after year.  I’m excited to be participating in my first ever virtual cookie exchange with some fun bloggers today, and hosted by Effortless Style. I want to share with you my favorite sugar cookie recipe and how to decorate easy Santa face Christmas cookies.  Affiliate links are included in this post.

When I was growing up, my grandma and my mom both had a special set of Christmas cookie cutters with  Santa face cutter.  They were decorated the same way every year, and so to me, those are the real tradition, the Santa face Christmas cookies.  For years I wanted a set of those cookie cutters, but they were vintage and I could not find them anywhere.  A few years go one of my family members found them on the internet and gifted us all a set.  I was so excited!!  Here is the exact set if you would like to get one for yourself. 

The Santa face cookie cutters are definitely my favorite, and over the years I have mixed in a few of my own finds to my cookie cutter collection.  Like this tree and this star.  I love the grips on them and they are nice and deep, so I can use thick dough.  

SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR DECORATING SANTA FACE COOKIES

PIPING BAG

DECORATING TIPS and COUPLERS (this is a GREAT set to start with)

RED SPRINKLES

COCONUT

MINI CHOCOLATE CHIPS

WHITE ICING

HOW TO DECORATE EASY SANTA FACE CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Cut-Out and Bake your Christmas cookies according to the recipe and directions (below)

Once cooled, prepare your piping bag with the decorator tip and coupler (follow these great tips for preparing your piping bag)

Add white icing to your piping bag

Using your piping bag and tip, frost just the portions of your Santa face Christmas cookie that you want to coat in red sprinkles.  Just the main part of his hat, and his cheeks.

Pour red sprinkles out onto a paper plate, and press the cookie, upside down, into the sprinkles to coat the icing.

Once you have rosy red cheeks and a red hat like those pictured below, you are ready to move on

Next, using the same white icing bag, pipe the white parts of Santa’s hat, and his beard as shown in the picture below:

It has been tradition in our family to add shredded coconut to his hat and beard on some of the cookies to make them look fluffy and add another texture and flavor to the cookies.  Not everyone likes coconut though, so we do about half and half.  You can do whatever you prefer. 🙂 . Here is what those iced hats and beards look like once you add shredded coconut to them:

Now for the eyes.  Take two mini chocolate chips and dip the flat parts of them in frosting.  Use the frosting to adhere the chocolate chip eyes to your Santa face cookies.  So cute!

I love these easy Santa face Christmas cookies because they don’t take long to decorate, and you never have to change your icing tip…it can all be done with one bag, which makes for easy set up and clean up.  I also love that they look pretty professional, even for someone like me who is admittedly NOT a trained fancy cookie decorator.  That’s what I hire the pros like Society Sweets for! 😉

These cute and easy Santa face Christmas cookies are always a hit at any gathering I take them to, and the sugar cookie recipe itself is SO yummy, it is great for any occasion.  

Yield: Makes about 20 cookies

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Print

This is Martha Stewart's recipe, but I think the way it is written is super time intensive and that the extra time is not necessary. I have added in the changes I make when using this dough.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Additional Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for surface and more if needed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (You can also add another 1/4 C butter if your dough is dry and unmanageable)
• 2 large eggs (if you feel like your dough is too dry, add another egg)

Instructions

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. I like to divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. That way I can make freshly baked cookies throughout the week. Refrigerate the dough for about 15 minutes before rolling it out.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to roughy 1/4-inch thick, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Cut out cookies using desired cutters or templates. Add cookie cut-outs to parchment-lined baking sheets as you work. Chill cookies in the fridge for about 15 minutes before you bake.
3. Bake cookies 13-15 minutes. I like to pull mine out before the edges turn brown.

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Be sure to visit all of the other talented ladies that are a part of this fun virtual cookie exchange.  Such a fun idea!  Here is a line up of all the blogs participating:

Cake & Confetti
Citrine Living
Dimples & Tangles
Effortless Style
Making Home Base
Pink Peppermint Design
Style Your Senses

Have a great day!
tammy