A Santa Cookie Assembly Line
The winter holidays bring with them a vast array of fun, festive activities for kids and their families; but few are as beloved as the making (and of course eating!) of holiday cookies. Most cookie recipes are simple enough to contain steps and tasks appropriate for a range of ages, and in the end, the decorating is often the best part, offering ample opportunities to taste test your frostings, sprinkles and other goodies.
Better yet, for your older bakers, use recipes and measuring as an opportunity to bolster those math skills in a low-stress environment. For a little extra challenge, try having one of your elder elves scale a cookie recipe up or down using multiplication or division.
Growing up in my house, there was one cookie recipe in particular that we looked forward to the most: the Santa Cookie.
Its favored status wasn’t because it was the most delicious or decadent, however; it was the decoration “assembly line” that we really looked forward to.
Turning a lightly frosted sugar cookie into an adorable Santa face was accomplished in roughly five to six steps, and my mom would invite a couple of friends to our house, cover the table in newspaper to make for easy cleanup, and then allow us to pick our place in the line. Then she would dole out the ingredients to each station and step away, allowing us to operate our assembly line independently.
In the throes of Christmas joy, surrounded by cookies and tiny candies, it never occurred to me how many positive life skills we were building by making those Santa cookies.
Right from the beginning, as we decided amongst ourselves who was doing what, we were practicing compromise, negotiation, and diplomacy. Once we started decorating, there had to be communication, teamwork, organization, and camaraderie. Older kids would usually assist younger ones (and keep them from eating all the decorations), adding elements of responsibility and caregiving into the mix.
When you make these with your own children, make sure to bake more than you’ll need, and choose a friend or family member (or several!) to share them with— after all, everyone knows holiday cookies taste better when shared! And don’t forget to save a few to leave out for the big man himself.
RECIPE:
Yields approximately 18 cookies
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Miniature marshmallows
Red sugar
Mini chocolate chips
Red cinnamon candies (“Red Hots”
Shredded coconut
Creamy frosting*
*For frosting, mix 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and 2-3 tablespoons of water, until you have a consistency easily applied with a pastry brush.
TO MAKE THE COOKIES:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add softened butter & sugar, mix until creamy and combined.
Then add egg and mix until combined completely. Finally, add milk.
Gradually add the flour, baking powder baking soda, and salt, and mix until a dough forms.
Shape dough into balls roughly 1 1/2” across and lay out on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper, spaced roughly 2” apart.
If the dough is too soft or tacky to work with, transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes before rolling to help it firm up.
Using the bottom of a wide glass (it helps to spray the bottom of the glass with cooking spray), flatten into circles about 2 1/2’ in diameter.
Bake until the edges of the cookie turn light brown, approximately 10 minutes; allow to cool completely before decorating.
To decorate:
Begin by brushing a cookie with frosting.
Next, add a mini marshmallow for the tassel of Santa’s hat.
Sprinkle the top third of the cookie with the red sugar.
Gently press in the chocolate chips frier eyes and the cinnamon candy for the nose.
Finish by sprinkling the bottom third of the cookie with coconut for the beard.
* Note: Frost and decorate one cookie before moving on to the next, or the frosting will dry and the decorations won’t stick.
By Johnny Gnall