4 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon alcohol-free vanilla
24 mini chocolate chips or black sesame seeds
Instructions
Begin by washing your strawberries and patting them completely dry with a paper towel. This is an important step because the cream cheese will not stick to damp fruit. Slice the leaf end off each strawberry so they can stand upright on a flat surface. Then, cut the top third of the pointed end off each strawberry to create a small “hat.”
In a small mixing bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and alcohol-free vanilla together until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. You can use a hand mixer or simply a sturdy spoon. Ensure there are no lumps so that the filling pipes easily through a nozzle.
Transfer the cream cheese mixture into a piping bag fitted with a medium star or round tip. Pipe a generous swirl of the mixture onto the flat, cut surface of the larger strawberry base. This represents Santa’s face and the white fur of his coat. Gently place the smaller strawberry “hat” back on top of the cream cheese swirl.
To finish the look, pipe a tiny dot of the cream cheese mixture onto the very tip of the strawberry hat to serve as the pom-pom. Place two mini chocolate chips or seeds into the “face” area to create eyes. You can also pipe two small dots down the front of the strawberry base to look like buttons on Santa’s suit.
