Santa Sugar Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Cream first four ingredients until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and eggs, one at a time. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Divide dough in half; shape into disks. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate until firm enough to roll, 1-2 hours. , Preheat oven to 375°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 3-1/2-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until firm, 8-10 minutes (do not overbake). Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely., For frosting, beat canned frosting, butter and confectioners' sugar until well-blended. Cut a hole in the tip of a pastry bag or corner of a food-safe plastic bag; insert #16 star tip and fill with frosting. Placing hearts point side up, use a small amount of frosting to attach brown M&M's for eyes and red M&M's for noses. Use remaining frosting to pipe hats, beards and mustaches. Sprinkle hats with red sugar; add jimmies for mouths.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, nutmeg and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 375°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 3-in. Santa-shaped cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets., Bake 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, in a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Beat in milk, vanilla and salt. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Pipe onto cookies and decorate as desired.

Steps:

• Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; set aside. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and almond extracts; mix well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating on low speed after each addition until well blended. Divide dough into 3 portions; wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough 2 hours or until thoroughly chilled and firm enough to handle.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray baking sheets and 5-inch Santa face cookie cutter with cooking spray; set aside. Roll out 1 portion of dough to 1/4-inch thickness on floured surface with floured rolling pin. Cut out cookies with prepared cutter. Transfer with metal spatula to baking sheet, placing 1 inch apart. Repeat with remaining dough portions, spraying cutter with additional cooking spray as needed.
• Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are browned lightly. Cool on baking sheet 1 minute before removing cookies and placing on wire racks to cool completely.
• Use red icing to fill in the hat, leaving the tip of the hat blank. Use white icing to fill in the tip of the hat, the brim of the hat, the beard and to make 2 dots in the center of the face for the eyes. Place a red candy centered between the eyes at the top of the beard for the nose and a mini morsel on each white dot to make eyes. Top beard with Reddi-wip® just before serving.

Steps:

• Mix butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in 2 eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed. Gradually mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. Divide dough in half; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds with a 3 1/2-inch cutter; transfer cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets. Freeze 15 minutes.
• Brush egg white over cookies; top with nonpareils. Bake until edges turn golden, 16 to 18 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, use a whisk to combine the flour, salt and baking powder. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until completely combined.
• Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture slowly, about 1/2 cup at a time until finished, mixing until just combined. Form the dough into 2 disks and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until slightly firm, about 1 hour, or up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or spray with cooking spray.
• Roll the dough out onto a floured work surface and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes, then transfer to the prepared baking sheets, leaving about a 2-inch space between each cookie.
• Chill the cut-out cookies on the baking sheets for about 15 minutes before baking for a more precise shape. Bake until just starting to become crisp and golden around the edges, about 15 minutes. Remove the cookies to a rack and let cool completely.
• Use food coloring to tint Royal Icing into different colors. To decorate, cover the cookies with the Royal Icing, then sprinkle on decorations while the icing is still wet. Let the icing set completely.
• Add the meringue powder to 1/2 cup water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip for about 30 seconds. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar, and continue to beat until medium peaks form. If the icing is too stiff, add water a tablespoon at a time. Keep covered until ready to use. Transfer to a squeeze bottle for easier decorating.

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Stir in flour and salt until blended. Cover and refrigerate dough at least 2 hours but no longer than 24 hours.
• Heat oven to 375°F. On lightly floured cloth-covered surface, roll 1/4 of dough at a time to 1/8-inch thickness. (Keep remaining dough refrigerated until ready to roll.) Cut dough with Santa cookie cutter; place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely. Frost cookies with red icing; sprinkle with red sugar crystals. Decorate as desired using white and blue icing. Add gum drop for belt buckle and cinnamon candy for nose.