Would you like to step up your sugar cookie game, but don’t want to buy or use a piping bag and tips? Are you also disgusted by the taste of Royal icing, preferring a tasty buttercream instead? These Santa cookies can be decorated with buttercream icing and the only tools necessary are cookie cutters, plastic sandwich bags, and some easy-to-find eyes.

To make these Santa cookies, I started with this large Santa cookie cutter.

I made my favorite sugar cookie recipe with the cookie cutters.

Next, I made buttercream icing and colored small portions red and flesh colored to match the photos above.

Then, the fun part started!

Spread the three different colors of icing to match the photos above. Avoid allowing the different colors to touch.

Decorate the faces by pressing the eyes into the frosting. This gives Santa a more natural look. Roll up a small ball of the flesh frosting for a nose.

Fill a plastic sandwich-sized or larger bag with some white frosting.

Cut off the tip, twist the top to remove as much air as possible.

Use icing to pipe on the edge of the hat, the ball at the end, sideburns and mustache. If you love a lot of icing, you could even use pipe on the beard.

If the icing seems to soft, put it back in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.

If you do have a piping bag and star tip, the results look a little fancier, but either cookie is clearly Santa!

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