1 pound butter, divided (do not use vegetable oil spreads)
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 package French Vanilla cake mix
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Microwave two sticks of the butter (1/2 pound) on high for one minute or until melted. With a paring knife, slice the remaining butter into 1/2-inch pieces; add to melted butter and toss to coat. Allow butter to stand five minutes or until softened.
- Meanwhile, measure flour into a large bowl. Add cake mix to the flour and blend with a whisk, breaking up any clumps.
- Whisk butter until smooth and free of lumps. If necessary, microwave butter an additional 10 - 20 seconds or just until creamy and pourable. Whisk again. Pour all of the butter into dry ingredients; thoroughly scraping butter from bowl. Mix until dry ingredients are incorporated and the dough is smooth. (If you find the dough too stiff to stir, knead by hand until smooth.)
I created cute Santa faces inspired by a magazine photo. To do this, place about 1/3 of the dough onto a well floured surface. Roll the dough out evenly with a rolling pin, adding more flour (to the pin or the dough) as necessary. It can get sticky! Cut cookie shapes using a floured, heart shape cookie cutter. Place hearts onto a baking sheet, 1 inch apart, using a large spatula. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until very light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet; remove to a nonstick cooling rack. Once completely cool, rotate the hearts upside down. The point will be the top of Santa's hat. Using a container of white icing, place a dot at the end of the point. Then ice a continuous line from one curve around through the other curve. This will be Santa's beard. With red decorating gel, place a dot just above the beard to represent his nose. Place two dots of icing above the nose for Santa's eyes and stick a chocolate chip on each. Make a triangle and fill in with the red gel from above the eyes to the white tip of the hat.
For the remaining dough, I chose to use a cookie press. They are fun to use and you get professional looking shapes. Follow the instructions included with your cookie press to place your shapes flat onto a baking sheet. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until very light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet; remove to a nonstick cooling rack. The forms of these cookies are so charming that they require little decorating. Dipping one side in melted chocolate looks (and tastes) great. And of course you can ice and add sprinkles. I found edible snowflakes (made from potato starch) at my local Fresh Market.
This recipe can also make drop cookies by adding any desired mix-ins to your dough. Play around with decorating ideas for your own custom holiday cookies. Happy baking!
