Inner Elf 2 - Barbered Santas

Barbered Santa cookies are Santa's Whiskers without the coconut edging. These are buttery, tender and sweet with the taste and color of the cherries and nuts.
As you can see, the dough is really stiff once the cherries and pecans have been mixed in.


The dough is formed into two logs, wrapped in plastic wrap and either refrigerated or frozen before slicing. Look at those Christmas colors.

Now that the big Turkey Day has come and gone, it really is time to get the holiday baking going. My Inner Elf is very, very happy.

My daughter's favorite Christmas cookie is Santas without Whiskers. It also is a great cookie to make ahead because the dough can be refrigerated for a week or frozen for a month after the dough is made and before the cookies are baked. They make a great addition to a cookie tray and are also a hit as part of a gift of cookies to friends and family.

Santas without Whiskers

1 cup softened butter (2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3/4 cup mixed red and green candied cherries
1/2 cup pecans

Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add almond extract and beat until creamy.

Mix in the flour until well blended. Dough will be stiff.

Spread cherries and pecans around top of batter.

Stir in fruit and nuts. Mix well. Form dough into two logs on pieces of plastic wrap.
Wrap well and refrigerate up to one week or freeze up to one month.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough logs from fridge or freezer. If frozen let thaw a bit.

With a serrated knife, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick discs.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheets about 12 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool on rack.

Makes 4 or 5 dozen. Note: To make as Santa's Whiskers roll logs in coconut before wrapping to refrigerate or freeze. Proceed as written with rest of recipe. Make sure not to burn coconut when baking.

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