You probably remember the box. It’s bright red, features a somewhat vintage-looking Kris Kringle, and usually appears on grocery store endcaps the second the Halloween candy hits the clearance bin. Salerno Santa’s Favorite Cookies are a bit of a cult classic in the Midwest, specifically around Chicago, where the brand has its deepest roots. But if you actually stop to look at them, they’re weird. They aren't fancy. They aren't gourmet. They’re basically shortbread stars with a hole in the middle, covered in white frosting and those tiny, crunchy red and green nonpareils that seem to bounce into every corner of your kitchen the moment you take a bite.
Yet, people go absolutely nuts for them.
Why? Because nostalgia is a powerful drug. It's not just about the sugar. It’s about the fact that for a lot of us, these cookies represent the exact moment the holiday season becomes "real."
What Exactly Are Salerno Santa's Favorite Cookies?
Let's get the technical stuff out of the way first. These are essentially a "sprinkle" version of a traditional shortbread or sugar cookie. They have a distinctively snappy texture. If you’re looking for a soft, chewy, Otis Spunkmeyer-style cookie, you’re in the wrong place. These are designed to be dunked. They hold up surprisingly well against a hot cup of coffee or a glass of cold milk without immediately disintegrating into sludge.
The shape is intentional too. The star-with-a-hole-in-the-center design isn't just for aesthetics; it’s a throwback to when people used to actually hang cookies on their Christmas trees. You could loop a piece of twine through the center and tie it to a pine branch. I wouldn't recommend doing that today unless you want your dog to knock the tree over, but that’s the heritage.
The Chicago Connection and the Baker’s Legacy
You can't talk about these cookies without talking about Salerno-Megowen Biscuit Company. Founded in 1933 by Fred Salerno, the company became a staple of the Niles and Chicago area. For decades, the smell of baking cookies wafted over the Edens Expressway. If you grew up in Chicagoland, Salerno wasn't just a brand; it was the brand. They made the Jingles (those anise-flavored holiday cookies) and the original Butter Cookies with the hole in the middle that everyone used to wear like rings on their fingers.
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Actually, the "Santa's Favorite" line is essentially a festive evolution of that classic butter cookie. When the company was sold—eventually landing under the umbrella of Mondelez and later being produced under various licensing agreements—there was a genuine fear that the recipe would change.
Honestly, it did change a little bit over the years as manufacturing processes modernized and ingredients like hydrogenated oils were phased out for health regulations. But the "soul" of the cookie stayed the same. It’s that specific almond-vanilla hint in the frosting that triggers the memory.
Why They Dominate the Holiday Market
It’s easy to dismiss a mass-produced cookie when you have high-end bakeries selling $8 macarons. But Salerno Santa’s Favorite Cookies occupy a specific niche: the "Unpretentious Holiday."
They are cheap. They are consistent. They are colorful.
Most people use them as a "filler" cookie for platters. You spend six hours making complicated peppermint bark and hand-piped gingerbread men, and then you dump a box of Salerno Santas in the middle to fill the gaps. Ironically, by the end of the party, the expensive bark is still there, and the Santas are gone. There’s something approachable about them. You don't feel guilty eating four of them in one sitting because they don't feel like an "event." They just feel like Christmas.
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The "Anise" Controversy
There is often a lot of confusion between the Santa's Favorites and Salerno Jingles.
Jingles are the ones that taste like black licorice (anise). If you hate licorice, you probably have a childhood memory of accidentally biting into a Jingle when you thought it was a Santa’s Favorite.
- Santa's Favorite: Vanilla/Butter/Shortbread profile. Very sweet. No spice.
- Jingles: Anise-flavored. Topped with red and green sugar crystals.
Knowing the difference is vital if you're the one in charge of the office snack table. Mistaking one for the other is a fast way to ruin someone's afternoon.
Tracking Them Down: The Scarcity Factor
One of the reasons these cookies stay popular is that they are strictly seasonal. You cannot find them in July. They appear in November, and by December 26th, they vanish. This creates a "get them while you can" mentality. In the early 2000s, when the Salerno brand went through some corporate restructuring and ownership changes, the cookies briefly disappeared from some regions. The panic was real. People were scouting grocery stores across state lines to find the "real" Salerno Santa's Favorite Cookies rather than the generic store-brand knockoffs.
Today, they are more widely available through regional distributors, but they still maintain that "local" feel. If you live on the West Coast or in the Deep South, you might have never seen a box. But in the Great Lakes region? They’re basically a currency.
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Practical Ways to Use Them (Beyond Just Eating Them)
If you have a box sitting on your counter right now, you don't have to just eat them plain. Because they are so sturdy, they’re actually great for "kitchen hacks."
- The Ice Cream Sandwich: Smear a little peppermint stick ice cream between two Santa's Favorites. The crunch of the nonpareils adds a great texture against the smooth ice cream.
- The Pie Crust: Pulse them in a food processor with a little melted butter. Use that as a base for a white chocolate cheesecake or a cranberry tart. It’s much more festive than a standard graham cracker crust.
- The Coffee Topper: Because of the hole in the middle, they sit perfectly on the rim of a mug if you give them a little notch, or you can just rest them on top of the foam of a latte. The frosting melts slightly into the coffee, and it’s incredible.
What Most People Get Wrong
The biggest misconception is that these are "just sugar cookies." If you look at the ingredient list, they are built more like a biscuit. The fat content is balanced to ensure they don't spread when baking, which is why the star shape remains so sharp and defined even after they come out of the oven.
Also, don't be fooled by "imitation" boxes. Several brands put out a red box with a Santa on it this time of year. If it doesn't have the Salerno logo in the corner, the flavor profile is usually off—often too waxy or lacking that specific snap.
Actionable Next Steps for the Holiday Season
If you’re looking to incorporate these into your traditions, here is how to do it right:
- Check the expiration: Because they are seasonal, some smaller corner stores might accidentally stock "leftover" boxes from the previous year. Always check the date; a stale Santa’s Favorite is like eating a piece of drywall.
- Pairing: Serve them with a dry sparkling wine or a very dark roast coffee. The extreme sweetness of the frosting needs something bitter or acidic to cut through it.
- Storage: Once the box is open, move them to an airtight container immediately. The nonpareils absorb moisture from the air and will turn from "crunchy" to "sticky" in about 48 hours if left in the cardboard.
- The "Dunk Test": Give them a full 3-second submerge in milk. Unlike a chocolate chip cookie that falls apart, the Santa’s Favorite hits its peak texture right at the 3-second mark.
Whether you grew up with them or you're just discovering the red box for the first time, Salerno Santa’s Favorite Cookies are a piece of mid-century Americana that managed to survive the era of "artisanal everything." They aren't trying to be sophisticated. They’re just trying to be a cookie. And honestly, sometimes that’s exactly what we need.