Santa Sandwich Cookies

Our jolly coconut Santas are filled and frosted with delicious marshmallow buttercream.

Ingredients

• 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ tsp. baking powder
• 4¾ cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2½ cups butter, at room temp.
• ¼ cup cream of coconut
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. coconut extract
• 3 cups Marshmallow Fluff, from 16-oz. cont.
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• Black and red-red concentrated food colorings
• 2 cups red candy melts, 12 oz., melted
• Red edible glitter
• 24 pink confetti sprinkles
• Red, green and white pearl candies and sprinkles

Instructions

1. Mix flour and baking powder. On medium speed, beat 1¾ cups sugar and 1 cup butter until creamy, 2 min. Beat in cream of coconut, then egg and coconut extract. On low, gradually beat in flour mixture until dough forms. Shape into ½”-thick disk. Wrap; chill until firm, 1 hr. Heat oven to 350°F. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 3⁄8″ thickness. Using 2¼” round cutter, cut out shapes, rerolling scraps to make 48 cookies. Place 1″ apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until golden, 7–8 min. Cool 5 min. Transfer from baking sheets to racks; cool.
2. On medium, beat remaining 1½ cups butter until fluffy, 2 min. On low, beat in Fluff; gradually beat in remaining 3 cups sugar, then vanilla until fluffy. Transfer ⅓ cup to separate bowl; tint black with coloring. Transfer to disposable pastry bag; snip tiny hole in tip. Transfer half of remaining frosting to separate bowl; tint red. Transfer red frosting to pastry bag fitted with medium star tip. Transfer untinted frosting to pastry bag fitted with small star tip.
3. For hats, dip ⅓ of each top edge of 24 cookies in candy melts in crescent shape; sprinkle with edible glitter. Transfer to rack; dry. Pipe on white frosting hat trim and beards. Pipe on black frosting eyes. For noses, attach pink confetti. Decorate as desired with candies and sprinkles. Pipe red frosting on bottoms of remaining undecorated cookies. Sandwich together with decorated cookies.