Easy Santa Cookies (No-Bake + Perfect for Kids)

These Santa cookies are so easy to make and so much fun for kids to decorate. If you are looking for a Christmas cookie decorating experience that your kids will absolutely love, this super quick option is a winner!

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Easy Christmas cookie decorating for kids

I have fond memories of baking Christmas cookies with my mom, and I love doing the same thing with my own kids.

Of course, when baking with kids you have to adjust expectations a bit…baking perfect frosted cut-out cookies just isn’t going to happen.

It’s good for me because it challenges the perfectionist in me, which is something I’m working on letting go of. But I do still look for easy-to-make and fun recipes to try with my kids.

This Santa graham cookies recipe is perfect for making Christmas Cookies with your family.

There’s no baking or cooking involved, and it’s simple yet so much fun for kids. Kids will love decorating these Santa cookies as much as they’ll enjoy eating these tasty treats!

Ingredients

If you haven’t already had your kids helping, now is a great time to lay out the ingredients and call them into the kitchen so they can each create their own Santa graham cookies!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Red food coloring
• Vanilla frosting – from a can, or you can make your own
• Graham crackers
• Mini marshmallows – these need to be cut in half
• Red gumdrops – also cut in half
• Red M&Ms – or other small red candies like red cinnamon candies

Instructions

Start with a cookie sheet lined with waxed or parchment paper. (This will help you clean up way faster – always a good thing with kids!)

Tip: Give each child his or her own cookie sheet covered with parchment or waxed paper. This will be their own little cookie decorating station and cut down on messes and fighting!

Add some frosting to one small bowl and use the red food dye to turn it red. Then, add frosting to a separate small bowl and color it light pink by using a smaller amount of the red food dye.

How many drops of dye you’ll need depends on the brand, so just add a couple at a time and stir well before adding more. You’ll be amazed at how a little goes a long way!

Frost one corner of each graham cracker with red frosting – this will be Santa’s hat.

Depending on your child’s age, you can either let them do this themselves or do it for them (or somewhere in between!). For small children, you might want to frost their Santa graham cookies first, then let them decorate.

Add a marshmallow to the top of Santa’s hat for a little pompom.

Then, frost the rest of the graham cracker with the light pink frosting, trying not to mix the colors with the hat. Again, it won’t be perfect, so just embrace it!

Now comes the really fun part – decorating the Santa graham cookies!

You and your kids can decorate your Santas however you want – let your children experiment with different varieties too. They’ll love it!

The basic idea here is to use a 1/2 gumdrop for Santa’s nose, 2 M&Ms for his eyes, and marshmallows for Santa’s beard.

My kids all loved making their own Santa Graham Cookies, and I enjoyed watching them each do their own thing.

Even my 2-year-old Joshua was able to help and decorate his own two cookies.

Storage

To store these Santa cookies, place them in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for 2-3 days. I found it worked to do stacks of cookies with parchment paper between each layer, but don’t pack them too tightly.

Variations

Want to change it up a bit? Here are a few ideas!

• Elves – Make the corner green instead of red and add a colorful pom pom with a different kind of candy (like a yellow M&M!). Instead of a beard, make a smile using red M&Ms or Twizzlers.
• Snowman – Give your snowman a black hat and white frosted face, then let your kids decorate with eyes of coal (aka some chocolate chips or brown M&M’s) and a carrot nose (candy corn or orange skittle, perhaps!).
• Wrapped present – If you want to let your kids get really creative, let them decorate the cookies as presents! They can choose their frosting color and add whatever candy they please. My little ones really liked this option!

I hope you and your children enjoy making Santa Graham cookies as much as we did! Make sure to snap some photos – the memories are so sweet!

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