Santa’s favorite cookies! Soft and chewy pistachio cookies dotted with glacé cherries as bright as Rudolph’s nose. The ultimate holiday cookie!
You’re guaranteed to make the ‘nice list’ with these Cookies For Santa! They’re golden on the outside with soft yet chewy centres and are dotted with a brilliantly red glace cherry! They are the epitome of Christmas!
I love Christmas, it’s when life really begins to sparkle. Our home is decorated, the tree is twinkling & our kitchen is filled with most gorgeous festive aromas. I adore cooking all year long, but there’s something extra special about the homemade delights that emerge from the heart of the home during the month of December. It’s as if somehow a little extra magic is added to each recipe.
Each year, I return to my usual Yule tide recipes and create my beloved rocky road, gingerbread cookies, gingerbread loaves, white chocolate pistachio cookies and Christmas brownies; putting a new spin on each to keep them exciting and even more delicious! And I’m so excited to be testing out a gorgeous gingerbread, caramel & sherry trifle this year. Fingers crossed it tastes as delicious as it sounds.
But of course there are some recipes that stay the same year in, year out and that for me are these Cookies For Santa. For Old St. Nick we bake the most festive looking cookies chock full of brilliantly green pistachio and dotted with a glacé cherry as bright as Rudolph’s nose. Miss G. absolutely loved creating our cookies this year. We even have a special plate to sit the cookies on, alongside the obligatory glass of milk of course.
And these cookies are pure simplicity to prepare. Pop all of the ingredients into a food processor, blitz, shape into generous balls, roll around in a little snowy icing sugar and adorn with a bright red glacé cherry. After a fifteen minute trip to the oven, the kitchen is filled with most beautiful aromas of baked cookies and Santa’s treat is ready to be enjoyed. Just be sure to save 2 or 3 cookies for the big fella in the red suit!
To create your own batch of Cookies For Santa simply…
Begin by preheating your oven to 180 degrees celsius (350 F) and line a cookie tray with baking paper. Set aside.
Place the pistachios and brown sugar into the large bowl of a food processor and blitz until the pistachios are finely chopped.
Add the egg whites, lemon zest, vanilla bean paste, honey and almond meal and pulse to combine.
Take heaped tablespoons of the mixture and shape into balls. Roll each ball on a little icing (confectioners) sugar and place onto the prepared tray leaving 1-2 centimetres between each cookie.
Slightly flatten each cookie and gently press a cherry into the centre of each. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until slightly golden.
Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before gently placing the cookies on a wire rack to cool completely.
Along side a glass of milk, arrange cookies on a plate Christmas Eve, just in time for Santa Claus.
MORE KID FRIENDLY CHRISTMAS RECIPES
Pistachio and Cherry Bundt Cake
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cookies for santa
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 20 cookies 1x
Description
Santa’s favorite cookies! Soft and chewy pistachio cookies dotted with glacé cherries as bright as Rudolph’s nose. The ultimate holiday cookie!
Ingredients
- 2 cups (300 grams) raw pistachios, shelled
- 1 cup (220 grams) brown sugar – If desired, please feel free to halve the amount of sugar used
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 3 egg whites
- 2 cups (200 grams) almond meal (ground almonds)
- 1 cup (140 grams) icing sugar
- 20 glace cherries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (350 F) and line a cookie tray with baking paper. Set aside.
- Place the pistachios and sugar into the large bowl of a food processor and blitz until the nuts are finely chopped.
- Add the honey, vanilla, lemon zest, egg whites and almond meal and pulse until combined.
- Take heaped tablespoons of the mixture and shape into balls. Arrange the cookies on the prepared tray, spacing them 1-2 centimetres apart. Slightly flatten each cookies and gently press a glace cherry into the centre of each cookie.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until slightly golden. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before placing the cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy x
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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Do you think you could freeze these? or how long will they last?
Although I haven’t tested freezing these myself, I imagine they should freeze ok and would be good for 3 months. X
Made these for a cookie party competition (adults included) – my first ever, and my first attempt at cookies. They were a dairy free alternative for my daughter. They turned out great and I came second!! Huge thank yous, and a gorgeous recipe.