Santa Claus Cookies
This recipe is from the Pillsbury Classics Cookbook…the little thing you buy at the check out line…from 1995. I tried to Google the recipe but it seems to have changed over the years, and not for the better. Classic is well, classic, so here it is:
1 (20 oz) package Pillsbury Refrigerated Sugar Cookies
2 tablespoons red colored sugar
3 to 4 drops (I used a LOT more) red food color
1 can Pillsbury Vanilla Creamy Supreme Frosting
36 Miniature Marshmallows
Assorted Candies (I used red M&Ms for the nose and semi-sweet mini morsels for the eyes and skipped the mouth. The official recipe calls for red licorice for the mouth, a red gumdrop for the nose and red cinnomin candies for the eyes.)
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
For easier slicing and shaping, work with half roll of well-chilled dough at a time; refrigerate remaining dough until needed.
Slice dough into ¼-inche slices For each Santa, cut narrow strips form opposite side of slice. Place larger piece on ungreased cookie sheet. Form dough strips into balls; roll in red sugar. Place ball of dough on each cut side, 2/3 of the way down, on inside edge of cookie to form cheeks; press gently. Repeat with remaining dough slices, place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words:
Bake at 350 degrees for 7 to 11 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely. Despite what they look like going into the oven, they come out nice and round, like this.
Place ½ cup of frosting in small bowl. Add red food color (add enough to make sure it is red and not just pink). Frost the top of each cookie with red frosting for hat. Add marshmallow for tassel on hat. (I forgot to buy the marshmallows so I just piped a tassel of frosting on.)
Place remaining frosting in decorating bag fitted with writing tip or in small resalable plastic freezer bag with 1 corner snipped of to make a very small hole for piping. Pipe white frosting around remaining cookie edge for beard and across bottom of hat. Attach candies with frosting to form eyes, nose and mouth. Pipe white frosting for mustache.
My cookies are pictured at the top.
The professional recipe cookies look like this:
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