How to Make a Santa in Flight Cookie Platter

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw the news that I'll be offering custom cookie cutters soon. I'm super excited about it! I'm still in the process of redoing the blog design to implement an online store, but it's almost complete! I hope to launch the opening of the store in the next week or so.

In the meantime, I wanted to preview one of the design sets that I'll have available, as well as post the complete tutorial for you, just in time for Christmas. The idea behind these cookie cutters is to create a Santa in flight cookie platter to display on your festive holiday table.

Santa and Reindeer Cookie Cutters

The Santa in Flight cookie platter consists of two cookie cutter designs:

A rear view of a reindeer...

... and a rear view of a Santa's sleigh, carrying a bag full of toys.

It might seem a little odd to showcase the "butts" of reindeer, however the idea is to showcase Santa's sleigh flying away from the viewer. Also, from a decorating standpoint, it allows you to avoid the intricate details of decorating the faces of all characters involved. I think people will get a kick out of seeing these whimsy reindeer backsides.

Template for the Santa in Flight Cookie Platter

I provided a template to help guide you during the decorating process. You can download the Santa and Reindeer Cookie template HERE.

If you have a Kopykake or Pico projector, just print it out (or pull it up on your mobile device) and you are ready to decorate. For those without a projector, follow the suggested steps below by tracing the design onto the cookie with an edible food marker.

Decorating Process

To decorate this Santa in Flight cookie platter, I'll break down the decorating process into two parts.

Reindeer Cookies

First up are the reindeer cookies. If you want a full set of Santa's reindeer herd for your cookie platter, plan on making eight (or nine, if you want Rudolph leading the way) of these reindeer cookies.

Step 1

Begin by outlining and flooding the "butt" area in warm brown royal icing, as shown. Then quickly add cream colored (I mixed ivory and warm brown) medium consistency icing in the middle. The two icing colors should leave a flat, blended surface. Let this icing to set (about 20 minutes).

Step 2

Once the icing had time to set, outline the upper torso and bottom two hind legs, as shown, with the same warm brown icing. Then fill the sections. Leave this icing to set.

Step 3

Next it's time to add the details. I used medium icing consistency for all of these. First add one antler in gold icing, a harness strap in red icing, and two hooves in black icing. Let these icing details set (about 20 minutes).

Once set, add the second antler, sleigh bells on top of the red harness, and a tail (in similar fashion as the butt section in Step 1). One thing I forgot to mention in the picture below are the ears, so don't forget to add them as well.

Santa's Sleigh Cookie

Next up is decorating Santa's sleigh.

Step 1

Begin by first outlining and filling the red middle section of the sleigh. Give that icing time to set (about 20 minutes). Then outline and fill the top bag section with holiday green icing (I mixed electric green and leaf green), and the bottom red section of the sleigh. Leave this icing to set.

Step 2

Once the icing had time to dry, add the gold sections of the sleigh as shown below. Also, add the red portions of Santa's hat and sleeve. Let this set for 15 minutes.

Next, add the top layer of the sleigh rail runners, as well as the white sections of Santa's suit.

Step 3

Add the finishing touches like the green glove, the white ball of the hat, and the gold outlines and accents.

Lastly, add the outline details of the bag and on Santa.

Once all the cookies are completely dry, arrange them on a platter. I had a rectangular dish that worked nicely. Just layer the reindeer two by two, with the Santa sleigh last on the bottom.

For a smaller gift set idea, I think having two reindeer cookies along with a sleigh cookie would still be a nice presentation.

This is just one cookie cutter design set I plan to have once my online store is up and running. Please stay tuned for the official launch announcement of when the store is open to the public. Thanks for all your support!