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1
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
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2
Put the 1 cup of room temperature butter into the bowl of your stand mixer and beat on high for about 30 seconds or until light and fluffy. Add in the sugar and beat until combined. Then add in the milk and vanilla while the blender is still going.
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Once the milk and vanilla are mixed in, turn the mixer to low speed and gradually add the flour, mixing until it's all added and everything is combined.
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4
Remove 1 cup of the dough and set aside. With the remaining dough, add in the red food coloring.
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5
To create a Santa, make one 1-inch ball and five 1/2-inch balls from the red dough. From the plain dough, make a 3/4-inch ball and four 1/4 inch balls. You will have a body, head, hat, four red arms and four hands and a white ball for the top of the hat. See the related blog link for photos. I found it was easiest to make all the individual parts and line them up in a row (one row for each Santa). This way you can build all the Santas at once.
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On a non-stick cookie sheet, assemble the Santas by pressing all of the dough parts together. Add the chocolate chips for eyes and three buttons.
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Bake the Santas for 12-15 minutes and then remove them from the oven and let them cool for about 2 minutes.
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While the cookies bake make the frosting for Santa's beard. Beat the 1/2 cup of butter and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer for about 30 seconds. Gradually add the powdered sugar and enough milk to make the frosting piping consistency.
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Spoon the frosting into a decorating pastry bag (you can use a Ziplock bag and cut off the corner, if you prefer). Pipe the frosting with a fun tip to create Santa's beard. Use the pastry bag to go around Santa's face, arms and legs. Put a small dot on the tip of his hat and then place one red mini M&M on his face as his nose.
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Recipe adapted from tablespoon.com.
