These aren’t just any old Christmas cookies! These are Santa’s Favorite Cookies! With a buttery brown sugar dough, chocolate chips, sprinkles, and M&Ms, you might want to sneak a few too.
Want to treat Santa to some more Christmas cookies? He’ll love these Iced Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookies. He definitely won’t leave any coal in your stocking if you set out a plate of these Chewy Andes Mint Cookies.
Cookies for Santa
Do you hear those sleigh bells jingling? A distant “ho-ho-ho” in the air? It’s Christmas Eve and Santa’s on his way, so you better get some milk and cookies ready for him!
If you have kids, you will love making Santa’s Favorite Cookies part of your Christmas tradition. These chocolate chip cookies are awesome to add to your holiday baking lineup.
- While I love cut-out Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies, I always make it a point to add some simple drop cookie recipes to my holiday baking so I don’t over-extend myself.
- These delicious cookies are also festive and fun. The colorful sprinkles and M&Ms will put you right in the Christmas spirit!
- I love that Santa’s cookies can be made in advance. You can prep the dough and freeze it (follow my instructions for freezing cookie dough) so it’s ready to pop in the oven and bake when you’re closer to Christmas, or freeze the baked cookies.
I happen to have an inside connection to Santa this time of year, and I can tell you that these are perfect cookies and so much fun for the holiday season. Mrs. Claus loves would love a plate of cookies too!
Santa claus cookies are the most popular cookie for cookie exchanges thanks to their festive colors and lots of chocolate! Make these soft cookies a part of your holiday tradition.
Cookie Ingredients
The full ingredient list is in the recipe card at the bottom of the post, but here are some highlights.
- Unsalted butter – Soften this to room temperature; it will mix more smoothly into the cookie dough. Use my guide on how to soften butter quickly.
- Light brown sugar – Brown sugar makes for a chewy cookie since it has more moisture than white sugar.
- Eggs – Let these come to room temperature with the butter.
- All-purpose flour – Lightly spoon this into the measuring cup to keep it from compacting. Need guidance? Use my tips on how to measure flour.
- Chocolate chips – Santa likes a mix of semi-sweet and white chocolate chips in his cookies!
- Pure Vanilla extract- to avoide an after taste or bitterness, use pure vanilla extract, not immitation vanilla. My homemade vanilla extract is perfect here. Almond extract can be swapped in too.
- Holiday (red/green) M&M’s candy – You can often find these with other Christmas candies rather than the regular candy aisle.
- Holiday (red/green) jimmies – Tell your kids that the secret ingredient in Santa’s cookies is a little Christmas magic and hand them a bottle of jimmies. (It might not work with older kids, but preschoolers will be delighted.)
How to Make Santa’s Cookies
Prepare: Preheat your to 350ºF and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Make the Dough:
- Using an electric stand mixer or a hand mixer with a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars for about 2 minutes until the mixture is blended and fluffy.Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking soda and mix just until combined. Fold in the semisweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, Christmas m&m, and sprinkles.
Form the Cookies and Bake:
- Use a 2 Tablespoon cookie dough scoop to drop the cookie dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet with 2 inches of space between the cookies.
- Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on the pans for several minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Tips and Tricks
- Press some extra chocolate chips and M&Ms into the tops of the cookies after you pull them out of the oven. This is how you get a picture perfect bakery-style look because it gives you more control over the placement.
- Want to make bigger cookies for Santa? Use a 3-tablespoon cookie dough scoop and increase the baking time to 13 to 15 minutes.
- Peanut butter M&M’s are a delicious addition! Use red and green ones to make festive cookies.
- Let the cookies cool, then store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. You can freeze Santa’s cookies for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter overnight.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Chewy Cardamom Cookies
- Butter Pecan Cookies
- Chewy White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Christmas Shortbread Cookies
- Peppermint Meringue Cookies
- Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies
- Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
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Santa’s Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup Holiday (red/green) M&M's candy
- ¼ cup holiday (red/green) jimmies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars for about 2 minutes, until fully blended. Add in eggs and vanilla and beat until well mixed.
- Add in flour, salt, and baking soda. Beat JUST until fully combined. Fold in the chocolate chips, M&M's, and sprinkles.
- Using a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop, drop onto parchment paper lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes, until outside of cookie is lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool several minutes on baking sheet. Remove and cool completely on wire rack.
Notes
- Press some extra chocolate chips & M&M/s into the top of the cookies (I do about 7-8 chips).
- The number of cookies is determined by the size scoop you use. If you prefer these to be larger, use a 3 Tablespoon scoop and bake for 13-15 minutes. You will get about 24 large cookies.
- Store baked cookies in airtight container for up to one week.
- Freeze cookies for up to 3 months. Thaw on counter overnight.
- See blog post for more recipe tips and tricks.
Made these for Christmas. Look and taste amazing! Thank you!
So happy to hear it Kelly 🙂
Made these for my Christmas cookie tins and they are absolutely amazing!! Thank you for sharing!!
So glad they are a hit!
I made these today and they are Fantastic! They have a nice crunch on the outside but soft and chewy middle and look like Christmas! They will be on my dessert table this Christmas.
Wow you were fast! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and review!!