Santas Stuffed Belly Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and extracts. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough into quarters. Shape each into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about 2 hours., On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 4-in. round cutter. Using a floured 3-1/2-in. round cutter, cut centers out of three-fifths of the cookies to make window cookies. Reroll and use dough trimmings. Place solid and window cookies 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake until edges are firm, 8-10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For royal icing, combine confectioners' sugar, water and meringue powder; beat on low speed just until blended. Beat on high until stiff peaks form, 4-5 minutes. Tint with red, white, black and gray food coloring. Keep unused icing covered at all times with a damp cloth. If necessary, beat again on high speed to restore texture., Frost half of solid cookies with red icing; using a pastry bag, pipe them with belts, buckles and trim. Pipe white icing around edges of window cookies and remaining solid cookies so they will adhere. On each solid cookie, layer three window cookies; fill opening with M&M's. Top with a red-frosted cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies. Let stand at room temperature several hours until frosting is dry and firm. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and generously butter an 8-inch cast iron skillet.
• Prepare the sugar cookie dough according to the package directions. Evenly press half of the cookie dough into the prepared skillet all the way to the edge. (Reserve the remaining dough for another use.) Bake until the top just turns golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cookie comes out clean, 11 to 13 minutes. Cool in the skillet for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the cookie with a large offset spatula and place it on a cutting board.
• Cut the cookie: Heat up a small, sharp knife by submerging it in boiling water for 3 minutes. Wipe the knife dry and gently cut the cookie into 8 wedges making sure the pieces stay together in a circle. Take it slow when cutting or the cookie could crumble. Let the cookie cool completely on the cutting board.
• Meanwhile, make the royal icing: Whisk together the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft glossy peaks form, 3 to 4 minutes (you may need to add up to 1 teaspoon more water).
• Transfer a quarter of the icing to a pastry bag fitted with a small no. 13 star pastry tip.
• Color the remaining icing red using the food coloring. Transfer 1/4 cup of the red icing to a small bowl and add water, 1/4 teaspoon at a time, to thin it out (when you drizzle the icing with a spoon, the lines should disappear within 5 seconds). This will be your filling icing. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a small no. 3 round pastry tip. Transfer the remaining thick red icing to a pastry bag fitted with a small no. 4 round pastry tip.
• Decorate the cookie: Using the thick red icing with the no. 4 tip, pipe a 2-inch circle in the center of the cookie.
• With the same icing, pipe eight 1-inch circles overlapping the 8 cut lines, positioning them about 1 inch in from the edge of the cookie. Each cookie wedge should have 2 half circles on it.
• Fill in all the circles with the filling icing with the no. 3 tip. Sprinkle each circle with red sanding sugar to coat. If excess sanding sugar gets on the cookie, fan it away or brush it off with a small pastry brush. (Your Santas are taking shape: the wedges in the large center circle are hats; the smaller circles are mittens.)
• Place a dragee on the tip of each cookie wedge to form a small white circle in the middle of the red center circle. (These are the pom-poms on the Santa hats.)
• Pipe a white icing border around the center red circle. (This will be the bottom of the hats.)
• Working on one cookie wedge at a time and starting at the white border, pipe a white ?V? that fits snuggly between the 2 red half circles. Repeat with the remaining cookie wedges. You should have a white 8-point star surrounding the middle red circle. (You've just made 8 Santa beards.)
• Pipe a small dot of thick red icing with the no. 4 tip in the middle of each "V." (Now each Santa has a nose.)
• Finish by piping a white border around the edge of the cookie. (This is the bottom of each Santa's coat.)
• Let the icing dry before serving, about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• For the cookie dough: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
• Add the butter and granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed, scraping down the bowl at least once, until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and 1 egg and beat to combine. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and continue to beat for 30 seconds.
• Remove 1/3 cup of the dough to a small bowl. Add about 1/4 teaspoon black food coloring and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until slightly firm, about 30 minutes.
• Add about 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring to the dough remaining in the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute, scraping down the bowl at least once. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until slightly firm, about 30 minutes.
• Place the red dough on a lightly floured clean work surface and roll it into a 7-inch log with a 2-inch diameter. Wrap with plastic wrap and place back in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
• Place the black dough on a lightly floured clean work surface and roll or flatten it into a 7-by-2-inch rectangle, 1/4-inch thick. Wrap with plastic wrap and place on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Whisk together the remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl for the egg wash.
• Remove both doughs from the refrigerator. Slice the red log in half lengthwise. Lightly brush the flat end of one half with egg wash. Place the black dough onto it to adhere. Lightly brush the flat end of the other red half with egg wash and place it on top of the black dough. (If the dough softens and becomes difficult to work with, simply place it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.) Wrap the log with plastic wrap and lightly roll it back and forth to round out the sides. Refrigerate the log for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Trim about 1/4 inch from each end of the log to reveal an even and flat Santa. Cut the log into 24 equal slices that are about 1/4-inch thick. Make sure to clean the knife after each slice for a clean cut so the colors won't bleed on each other. (If the log softens and becomes difficult to work with, simply place it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.)
• Arrange 12 cookies evenly on each prepared baking sheet. Bake until the edges are lightly golden, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, 14 to 17 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets.
• For the royal icing: Add the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 1 tablespoon water to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high for 1 minute, scraping down the sides as needed. If the icing is too thick, add 1 more teaspoon of water and beat until combined. Transfer to a small pastry bag fitted with a small round tip (size 4).
• Pipe a white collar on the top half of the cookie. Sprinkle it with white sprinkles. Pipe buttons on the red coat and the black belt. Pipe a square buckle in the middle of the black belt.

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half; shape each into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, at least 1 hour., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 3-in. round cutter., Place half of the circles 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets; top with candy bar pieces. Top with remaining circles, pinching edges to seal., Bake until bottoms are light brown, 10-12 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely., Tint 1-2/3 cups frosting red; spread over cookies. Tint 2/3 cup frosting black; pipe belts and buttons over top. Tint remaining frosting yellow; pipe buckles on belts.

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:

• Heat oven to 400°F. Beat butter, granulated sugar and lemon peel in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in egg and milk. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 3 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Press bottom of drinking glass on each until about 1/4 inch and 3 inches in diameter. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Spread frosting on cookie (frost and decorate each cookie before starting another). Sprinkle red sugar over top third of cookie for hat. Press on miniature marshmallow for tassel. Press 2 currants for eyes and 1 cinnamon candy for nose into center third of cookie. Sprinkle coconut over bottom third for beard.

Steps:

• In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, flour, egg and almond extract until soft dough forms. Shape dough into ball; flatten slightly. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 375°F. Unwrap dough; on floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with floured 4 3/4-inch bell-shaped cookie cutter. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cutouts 2 inches apart. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• For each cookie, spread or pipe white icing onto bottom of bell for beard and mustache and onto top of bell for hat pom-pom; sprinkle with coconut. Pipe red icing under pom-pom for hat; sprinkle with red sugar. Use white icing to attach milk chocolate candies for eyes and cinnamon candies for nose. Use red icing for mouth and white icing for eyebrows. Let stand until set.