Festive Santa Sugar Cookies: A Holiday Baking Delight

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs eggs
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1.5 teaspoons almond extract
• PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
• 2 (7 ounce) pouches red decorating cookie icing
• 2 (7 ounce) pouches white decorating cookie icing
• 22 red candy-coated chocolate pieces
• 44 semisweet chocolate morsels
• Reddi-wip® Original Dairy Whipped Topping

Instructions

1. Gather all the necessary ingredients for your Santa cookies.
2. In a medium bowl, thoroughly combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set the mixture aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, and almond extracts, and mix thoroughly. Gradually add the flour mixture, beating at low speed after each addition, until well blended.
4. Divide the dough into 3 portions, wrapping each tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours or until it's thoroughly chilled and firm enough to handle.
5. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray baking sheets and a 5-inch Santa face cookie cutter with cooking spray and set aside.
6. Roll out one portion of dough to a 1/4-inch thickness on a floured surface using a floured rolling pin. Cut out cookies using the prepared cutter and transfer them onto the prepared baking sheets using a metal spatula, placing them 1-inch apart. Repeat with the remaining dough, spraying the cutter with additional cooking spray as needed.
7. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are golden brown, approximately 7 to 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets briefly before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. 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, and the beard. Create two white 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 add a mini chocolate morsel on each white dot to create the eyes.
9. Just before serving, top the beard with whipped cream. Serve and enjoy your festive Santa cookies!

Nutrition

• Calories: 547 kcal
• Fat Content: 28 g
• Fiber Content: 3 g
• Sugar Content: 58 g
• Sodium Content: 232 mg
• Protein Content: 5 g
• Cholesterol Content: 41 mg
• Carbohydrate Content: 77 g
• Saturated Fat Content: 15 g
• Unsaturated Fat Content: 0 g