Make the jolliest Santa cookies for the holidays! These sugar cookie cutouts are frosted with homemade buttercream frosting and decorated with red sugar to create Santa's face and bright red hat.
Santa Cookies
Updated Jul. 22, 2024
Leaving out cookies for Santa at Christmas is a time-old tradition. After all, Santa needs fuel to keep going all through the night as he travels with his reindeer friends. To give him the ultimate treat, why not make Santa Claus cookies: a Christmas cookie recipe that looks like the man himself, big red hat included!
These Santa Claus sugar cookies use a simple sugar cookie dough as their base. Once the dough is mixed, chilled and rolled out flat, it’s cut with Santa-shaped cookie cutters. The whole family will love decorating these Christmas cookies and sprinkling the frosted cookies with red sugar to match Santa’s iconic hat. Santa sugar cookies look gorgeous on the plate and taste even better.
Ingredients for Santa Cookies
- Butter: Butter contributes to the cookie’s texture and adds fat for flavor. For the best results, start with softened butter.
- Sugar: Sugar adds sweetness to the Santa cookies and, when creamed with the softened butter, gives the cookies a light, airy texture.
- Eggs: Eggs are used to bind ingredients in baking. They also add moisture and fat, which play a role in the flavor and texture of these Santa Claus sugar cookies.
- All-purpose flour: Flour binds to the wet ingredients, giving structure to baked goods.
- Baking soda: Baking soda is the leavening agent that helps the cookies rise as they bake.
- Cream of tartar: Cream of tartar makes these Santa Claus cookies chewy and adds a slightly tangy flavor.
- Nutmeg: A small amount of nutmeg can go a long way. It adds a warming flavor to the dough without being overwhelming.
- Salt: Salt is used in the sugar cookie dough and in the frosting to balance out sweetness.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla extract adds flavor to the Santa cookies recipe.
- Frosting: Our sweet buttercream frosting is a smooth, creamy combination of softened butter, milk, vanilla, salt and confectioners’ sugar.
- Red sugar and mini chocolate chips: Red sugar is used to color Santa’s frosted hat red. If you can’t find it, you can pull out the red food coloring and make DIY colored sugar. Mini chocolate chips are used for Santa’s eyes, and a Red Hots candy becomes his nose.
Directions
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, five to seven minutes.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
Step 2: Add the dry ingredients
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, nutmeg and salt. Gradually beat the dry mixture into the creamed mixture until the dough comes together.
Step 3: Chill the dough
Divide the prepared dough in half. Shape each half into a disk and wrap it in storage wrap. Refrigerate for one hour or until firm enough to roll.
Step 4: Cut the Santa cookies
Preheat the oven to 375°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with a floured 3-inch Santa-shaped cookie cutter. Place the cutouts 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.
Step 5: Bake the Santa Claus cookies
Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown. Remove the cookies from the pans to wire racks to cool completely.
How to Decorate Santa Cookies
Step 1: Make the frosting
In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy.
Beat in the milk, vanilla and salt. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth.
Step 2: Frost the cooled cookies
Pipe the white frosting onto the cookies to create Santa’s eyes, beard and hat.
Step 3: Add red sugar and chocolate chips
Add the red sugar to Santa’s frosted hat. Use mini chocolate chips for Santa’s eyes and a Red Hots candy for his nose.
How to Store Santa Cookies
Decorated Santa cookies should be stored in an airtight container to keep them fresh. Place a single layer of cookies in a container, or separate the layers with parchment. You can store the cookies at room temperature as long as the frosting doesn’t contain perishable ingredients like cream cheese.
Can you freeze Santa cookies?
You can freeze Santa cookies for up to three months. This is a great option if you want to bake several batches of Santa Claus sugar cookies as this year’s cookie exchange recipe. Bake the Santa Claus cookies, and transfer the frosted or unfrosted cookies to a freezer-safe container. Make sure to separate any layers with parchment to prevent sticking (a common cookie storage mistake).
If you prefer to freeze unbaked cookies, wrap the prepared dough in storage wrap. Place it in a freezer bag, and freeze it for up to three months. Thaw the dough in the fridge. Then, bake the cookies as directed.
How long do Santa cookies last?
Santa sugar cookies will last for about a week when stored at room temperature or in the fridge, or up to three months in the freezer. This is true for both decorated and undecorated Santa Claus sugar cookies.
Santa Cookie Tips
How do you prevent Santa cookies from spreading?
Chilling the dough is a crucial step that prevents cutout cookies from spreading. For these Santa sugar cookies, chill the dough for about one hour (or until the dough is firm) before cutting out the Santa cookie shapes.
What other flavors can you use for Santa cookies?
You could easily swap in another type of extract to change the flavor of this Santa cookies recipe. Consider using peppermint for a cool wintery flavor or almond extract for sweetness.
How do you make even cuts with cookie cutters?
When cutting out your Santa sugar cookies, dust the cookie cutter with flour before pressing it into the dough to make the process easier. The flour prevents the dough from sticking to the cookie cutter for an even cut.
Santa Claus Sugar Cookies
Prep Time
45 min
Cook Time
10 min
Yield
2 dozen
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- FROSTING:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 6 tablespoons 2% milk
- 2-1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
- Red colored sugar, miniature semisweet chocolate chips and Red Hots, optional
Directions
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. 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 parchment-lined 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.
Nutrition Facts
1 cookie: 186 calories, 7g fat (4g saturated fat), 27mg cholesterol, 56mg sodium, 30g carbohydrate (22g sugars, 0 fiber), 1g protein.
I've used this recipe for almost 40 years and love it because it's a little different than most. My mom always made Santa cookies, and we'd put them into little clear bags tied with ribbon to hang on the tree.—Ann Bush, Colorado City, Colorado
Recipe Creator
