Only 4 sleeps until Christmas, so you know what that means! SANTA IS ON HIS WAY!
Why not leave him out a batch of these adorable and very delicious Chubby Santa Cookies along with a cold glass of dairy-free milk?! I’m sure he’d love them!
These Chubby Santa Cookies are the cutest cookie EVER! They’re buttery, sweet and scrumptious! You’ll almost feel a little guilty for eating them as they’re too cute, but you won’t regret it once you have a bite!
Delicious vanilla sugar cookies with dairy-free chocolate chips, vegan royal icing and a fondant nose.
I first came across this style of idea on Pinterest. I saw ‘Half Baked Harvest’ and ‘Sugar and Charm’s’ version, then saw lots of people making them on Instagram, so I really wanted to give it a go with my easy cookie recipe.
I actually made these exact cookies last year for my cookie box (check it out here). I made them using my 3 ingredient cookie recipe, and they went down a storm! I never posted that recipe, sooo, here it is now- haha!
How to make a Chubby Santa Cookie.
These cookies are made using my popular 3 ingredient sugar cookie recipe. The ingredients are flour, coconut oil and maple syrup….that’s it!
I use vegan friendly red food gel for Santas ‘hat and coat’, a red ball of fondant for the nose, along with dairy-free chocolate chips for the eyes and coat buttons.
Firstly, you’ll want to make the cookie dough. This recipe couldn’t be similar. Add the flour and maple syrup into a mixing bowl, pour in the melted coconut oil and stir into a thick cookie dough. I wanted the cookies to have a slight vanilla flavour, so I did add in a splash of vanilla extract, thats totally optional. If you wanted, you could make them even more festive with some peppermint / orange flavouring!
Divide the mixture in two and colour one batch of cookie dough with red food gel. I use gel as its highly pigmented which means you won’t need as much of it.
Roll the cookie dough into balls, then roll them in some caster sugar.
It starts off with a larger red ball for the body, four smaller red balls pressed either side for the body, along with four even smaller plain ones for the hands and feet. Oh and you can’t forget Santa’s hat!
Before baking, press in some chocolate chips for the eyes and buttons.
Once baked, allow to cool fully before transferring royal icing into a piping bag fitted with a small, star tip nozzle and pipe on the beard, and hat details.
They’re simple but really effective! They would make amazing edible Christmas gifts!
Looking for more Christmas recipes? Look no further:
Easy Vegan Gingerbread Man Cupcakes
No-Bake White Chocolate Snowman Cheesecakes
These cookies taste delicious are extremely fun to make! I’d love to see your versions, make sure to tag me in your posts over on Instagram!
Happy baking!
Chubby Santa Cookies
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
How to make the BEST Vegan Chubby Santa Cookies. Fun for everyone to make for Christmas!
Ingredients
Ingredients for the cookie
- 300g of plain flour
- 150g of coconut oil
- 7 tablespoons of maple syrup
+
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Red food gel
Ingredients for the royal icing
- 100g of icing sugar
- 15 ml of aquafaba
Decorations
- Dairy-free dark chocolate buttons
- Red fondant / red sweets
Instructions
Method (Santa cookie)
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c fan and line two large baking trays with grease proof paper.
- Weigh out 150g of solid coconut oil, then melt it in a small saucepan over the hob.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, melted coconut oil and maple syrup and vanilla. Mix until a smooth dough forms. Bring together with your hands. If it’s too wet, ad some more flour, if it’s too dry, add more melted coconut oil or maple syrup. The heat from your hands will keep the coconut oil melty, so it’s easier to mould.
- Divide the dough in half and put one ball of dough to the side. Colour one ball of dough with red food gel. Make sure it’s fully combined.
- For each cookie, take some of the red dough and roll it into a 1-2 inch round ball. Place on the grease proof lined tray and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Take some more of the red dough and roll four 1/4 inch balls, and attach onto the sides of the larger ball.
- Shape the plain dough into one 3/4 inch ball and four 1/4 inch balls.
- Attach the four smaller plain balls to the smaller red balls of dough (creating Santas arms and legs).
- Attach the head to the top and flatten slightly. Make sure to press everything together. Roll some of the red dough into a triangular hat shape and press on top of the head, along with a smaller plain ball of dough for the hats bobble.
- Repeat with remaining dough, placing cookies a few inches apart as they will spread very slightly.
- Press two chocolate buttons on Santas belly, and two on the head for the eyes. Watch the video tutorial here.
- Sprinkle the cookies with some caster sugar before baking.
- Place into the middle of the preheated oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden in colour.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully before icing.
Method (royal icing)
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, add in the aquafaba and whisk on high until frothy. This usually takes around 5 minutes. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment but you can use a hand mixer.
- Add in the icing sugar and whisk until it holds a stiff peak.
- Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a small star tip nozzle.
- Pipe stars of the royal icing for Santas beard, and add some hat and coat details if you fancy!
- While the royal icing is wet, press on a ball of red fondant or a red candy sweet for the nose.
Notes
What food gel to use?
My favourites are Rainbow Food Dust colours. They’re 100% vegan and extremely pigmented, meaning you don’t need to use much colour to get maximum results!
To store
Store these cookies in a sealed container in the fridge. Allow to come to room temperature fully before enjoying.
What is aquafaba?
Aquafaba is the water from a can/tin of chickpeas.The chickpea water or brine as its called, acts as an amazing egg substitute for cakes, meringue buttercream etc.
- Category: christmas recipes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Christmas recipes
