Santa Claus Cookies -- The Sweet Ending to a Night That Felt Like Everything

December. The recruiting season for the class of 2024 — the class Diego will be part of — has officially started. I walk a careful line in this building: I am the head coach and I am a father and when those roles intersect in the same institution I have to be more transparent, not less. I've talked with the athletic director about how Diego's varsity evaluation will work. Another coach will make the official depth chart decisions for the position group. I'll know the results but I won't influence the process. This is the right way to do it.

Staff holiday party at my house this week. Twelve people, the whole coaching staff, their spouses and partners. I made birria with the consommé for dipping and enough toppings to fill a table. Williams brought dessert. Tui brought a contribution to the beverage situation. By nine o'clock the kitchen was full of people and food and laughter and I stood in the doorway for a moment just watching it. This is the staff I want. These are the people I want to do this with.

Advent in our house is a production. Lisa does an Advent calendar for the kids that counts down with activities: make tamales, watch a movie, bake cookies, go see the lights. She planned it in October. The twins count the doors every morning with a seriousness that suggests they believe Christmas will be called off if the ritual isn't performed correctly. I find this more sustaining than I can explain.

Called Marisol Tuesday. She said Hector was tired but happy — he'd been telling the story of the championship game to anyone who would listen, including people who had already heard it twice. She said he slept well for the first time in weeks after I called him from the field. I told her I'd be down for Christmas. She said good. She said "he needs to see you." I'll be there.

That night — twelve people in my kitchen, consommé on the stove, laughter filling every corner — I kept thinking about how the whole season deserves to feel that full. The Advent calendar Lisa built is all about ritual and intentionality, and when Williams showed up with dessert I started imagining something we could actually make together as a family, something the twins could be part of with the same seriousness they bring to counting those calendar doors every morning. These Santa Claus Cookies are exactly that: simple enough to involve little hands, festive enough to belong on any holiday table, and the kind of thing that turns an ordinary December evening into a memory.

Santa Claus Cookies

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Red and white decorating sugar
• Small red cinnamon candies (for buttons and eyes)
• White frosting (for beard and trim)
• Red frosting (for hat)
• Miniature marshmallows (for hat pompom and beard texture)

Instructions

1. Cream the base. In a large bowl, beat butter, shortening, and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3–4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract.
2. Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing just until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.
3. Chill the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until firm enough to roll.
4. Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Roll and cut. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use a round cookie cutter (about 2 1/2 inches) to cut circles. Place on prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake. Bake for 8–10 minutes, until edges are just set and bottoms are lightly golden. Do not overbake — cookies should stay pale on top. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before decorating.
7. Decorate as Santa. Using red frosting, pipe a triangle hat on the top third of each cookie. Apply white frosting along the brim of the hat and around the bottom of the cookie for the beard. Press small red cinnamon candies into the frosting for eyes and buttons. Use a miniature marshmallow at the tip of the hat for the pompom, and press additional mini marshmallows along the beard for texture.
8. Set and serve. Allow frosting to set fully (about 30 minutes) before plating or packing. Store in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 185 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 25g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 115mg