Round gingerbread Santa cookies with red icing hats, fluffy-looking white icing beards and a simple bare-cookie face.
Round cookies provide a simple canvas for Santa faces without delicate cut-out edges. Add the hat first, let the red surface set, and then pipe the white brim and beard. Leave space in the middle for small eyes and a nose.
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Gingerbread Santa Cookies Recipe
Per tray: 8–12 minutes · About 3 trays, up to 12 shapes on each 13 × 18-inch pan
Allow about 301 minutes: 65 hands-on, 60 dough chilling, 36 for all trays, 20 cooling including the pan rest, and 120 icing drying. Cooling / setting includes the drying allowance; thicker icing or humidity may require longer. Follow the icing label before stacking.
Kitchen tools you’ll need
- Small saucepan, mixing bowl and sturdy spoon
- Rolling pin with 1/4-inch guides
- 3-inch round cookie cutter
- Two 13 × 18-inch baking sheets and parchment
- Wide offset spatula and cooling rack
- Fine-tip piping bags, small bowls and food-safe icing colors
- US measures and scale
Ingredients
Cookie dough
Spice blend
Decoration
Scale ingredients and US equivalents, including eggs. Keep cookie size, thickness, oven temperature and baking time per tray unchanged. More trays add time; weigh beaten egg for fractional batches.
Instructions
Melt & season
- Gently melt butter over low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in sugar, molasses, salt and spices until evenly combined. Let cool until lukewarm before beating in the egg.
Combine
- Whisk flour with baking powder and baking soda, then mix into the wet ingredients until no dry flour remains. Dough will be sticky; do not add more flour.
Firm the dough
- Divide into two flattened rectangles, wrap tightly and refrigerate at least 60 minutes, until cold and firm enough to roll. Chilling firms the butter and lets the flour hydrate.
Shape
- Heat to 350°F (175°C) conventional or 325°F (165°C) fan. Roll chilled dough between lightly floured parchment to 1/4 inch. Cut 3-inch circles for Santa faces. A round cutter gives a generous canvas for a hat, face and beard without fragile points. Space 1 inch apart on lined pans and keep unused dough cold.
Check doneness
- Bake one tray at a time 8–12 minutes until the surface is set and edges are slightly darker. Use cooled pans between batches. Check at the early end of the range, particularly for narrow shapes.
Cool before icing
- Rest 5 minutes on the pan, then about 15 minutes on a rack until fully cold. Do not ice warm cookies.
Create the 3-inch round Santa faces design
- Spread or pipe red icing on the upper third of each circle for the hat. Let the red hat surface set until it no longer smears under a light touch before adding white details. Pipe a white hat brim and pompom, then a white beard on the lower third. Leave the middle brown cookie area bare for the face. Add two tiny black eyes and a small pink icing nose. Keep icing inside the round cookie edge.
Set before packing
- Leave decorated cookies flat and uncovered in a clean cool room for at least 120 minutes, or longer until the icing surface is firm. A flooded icing may need overnight drying before stacking; follow the prepared icing label.
Chef’s Science & Pro Tips
Plan the outline
Leaving the middle of the circle bare separates the hat from the beard and makes the Santa face readable.
Cool before icing
A completely cold cookie keeps the icing from melting or running into the edges.
Set colors in stages
Keep contrasting icing colors from touching while very wet; allow the first color to set before adding fine details.
Storage and make-ahead
| Method | How long | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Room temperature | 3–4 days | Once icing is completely set, store airtight with parchment separators; keep dry and cool. |
| Refrigeration | Raw dough: up to 2 days | Wrap dough tightly. Plain baked cookies do not need refrigeration. |
| Raw freezing | Up to 2 months | Freeze tightly wrapped plain dough disks; thaw covered in the refrigerator before rolling and cutting. |
| Baked freezing | Up to 2 months | Freeze plain baked shapes airtight; thaw covered, then decorate and dry. |
| Restoring | Before serving | Serve decorated cookies at room temperature; avoid reheating icing. Warm only undecorated shapes if desired. |
Notes
- Use prepared royal icing of a consistency suitable for the stated design and food-safe colors. The 300 g amount is a decorating supply; some may remain, and nutrition includes all of it. Dough contains wheat, dairy and egg. Royal icing may also contain egg; check labels. Spice weights are approximate. Icing drying depends on thickness and humidity, and heavily flooded designs may need overnight drying before gift-box stacking.
Nutrition
Estimated nutrition per serving; brands and portion sizes vary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a Santa-shaped cutter?
No. A 3-inch round cutter is enough; the icing creates the recognizable face.
How thick should the dough be?
Roll evenly to 1/4 inch for the timings and sturdy decorated shapes in this recipe.
When can I stack them for gifting?
Only when the icing is firm and dry. Thin lines may set sooner, but fully flooded designs can need overnight drying.
Browse more cookie ideas in the Gingerbread Cookies Ideas collection.
