Wiener dog Santa cookies

Wiener dog Santa cookie recipe

Makes approximately five 3D dog cookies

Ingredients:

• Molasses cookie mix (or your favorite molasses cookie recipe. You might even try brownies!)
• Blue, red and white Airheads candies (for the hat and scarf)
• Wintergreen Lifesavers (for the fur trim on the hat)
• Tootsie Rolls (for the ears)
• Black candy beads or black gel icing (for the nose)
• Royal icing or melted chocolate (to secure the candy pieces in place)

Directions:

Combine molasses cookie mix according to instructions. Spread dough onto a 9 x 13-inch baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 18-20 minutes at 375 degrees F, until cookie dough is done in the middle but not burnt on the edges. Let it cool for about 5 minutes.

Using a spatula, lift the entire baked cookie out of the pan. (The parchment should have kept it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.) While the cookie is still a little warm, cut out wiener dog shapes. (I was able to get 9, but you could probably get 10 if you tried.) Allow the cookies to cool completely.

Put royal icing or melted chocolate on one wiener dog cookie and stack a second cookie on top. Molasses cookies are naturally a little flexible and chewy, so you can squeeze the tails & noses together into more of a point on both ends. Repeat with remaining cookies. (Note: If you can cut 10 wiener dog shapes out of your cookie sheet, you should be able to make 5 complete Santa dogs.)

Add eyes and noses with black candy beads or black gel icing.

To make the ears, soften and sculpt tiny bits of Tootsie Roll into the shape of a long teardrop. Attach to the cookie with royal icing or melted chocolate.

To make the scarves, use a rolling pin to flatten and elongate a blue Airhead candy. When it's about 6-inches long, cut it into 1/2-inch strips with scissors. Cut tiny notches on the ends for fringe. Wrap around the necks of the wiener dogs.

To make the hats, roll a red Airhead candy into a cone shape and bend the tip over. Add a tiny ball of white Airhead candy. Attach the red candy cone to the Wintergreen Lifesaver. Place the hats on the dog heads or attach them securely with royal icing or melted chocolate.

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