Snowman Sugar Cookies With Frosting Food

MELTED SNOWMAN SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Follow baking directions on sugar cookie pouch, dividing dough evenly into 12 round cookies.
• On cooled cookies, draw a "snow puddle" with Betty Crocker™ White Cookie Icing. TIP: Draw the outline of the puddle, then go back and fill in the shape.
• While the icing is still wet, immediately place a marshmallow to one side of the cookie.
• MAKE THE ARMS: Once the icing and marshmallow have set, pipe two "branches" onto each cookie using black gel. Add fingers with chocolate sprinkles.
• MAKE THE FACE: Using a small dot of white cookie icing, stick two "coal" eyes and a nose onto the marshmallow with Rainbow Chips. Pipe a small dot for the mouth with black gel.
• MAKE THE SCARF AND BUTTONS: Using blue, red, or green cookie icing; carefully draw scarves around the base of the marshmallow. Using a small dot of white cookie icing, stick three "coal" buttons beneath the scarf with Rainbow Chips.
• Allow cookies to set for at least one hour before serving.

SNOWMAN SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cut cookie dough into 1/4-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, in a small bowl, cream shortening and butter. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Beat in milk and vanilla until smooth. Spread over cookies. Decorate with chocolate chips, candy corn and Red Hots.

SNOWMAN SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Sift the flour into a medium bowl. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Decrease the speed to low, add the flour and mix to incorporate. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium for 30 seconds. Chill the dough for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
• Lightly dust a clean surface with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough between 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch thick. Cut the dough with a snowman cookie cutter and place on the prepared sheet pan (about 24 cookies). Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool completely, then serve the cookies as-is, or frost the cookies and then serve.

SNOWMAN SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. If the dough seems too soft, you can add 1 Tablespoon more flour until it is a better consistency for rolling.
• Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each portion out onto a piece of parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat (I prefer the nonstick silicone mat) to about 1/4-inch thickness. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.
• Stack the pieces, with parchment paper between the two, onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days. If chilling for more than a couple hours, cover the top dough piece with a single piece of parchment paper.
• Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Remove one of the dough pieces from the refrigerator and using a snowman cookie cutter, cut into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with 2nd dough piece.
• Arrange cookies on baking sheets 3 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Make sure you rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. I like to decorate cookies directly on baking sheets so I can stick the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator to help set the icing. So place the cooled cookies back on baking sheets.
• Watch the video of the icing above so you get an idea of what the final consistency should be. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat all of the icing ingredients together on high speed for 1.5 - 2 minutes. When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 5-10 seconds. If it's too thick, add a little more water. (On particularly dry days, I use up to 12-14 Tablespoons water total.) If it's too thin, add a little more sifted confectioners' sugar.
• You'll need 3 small bowls: one for red icing, one for black icing, and one for orange icing. Spoon 1/4 cup of icing into each bowl. The rest of the icing will remain white. Stir red food coloring into 1 bowl until you reach your desired shade. Stir black food coloring into another bowl until you reach your desired shade. (I find that black always dries darker so stop adding coloring when you reach a dark gray.) Finally, stir orange food coloring into the last bowl until you reach your desired shade. Spoon icings into piping bags (reusable or disposable).
• You can watch the video of me decorating the cookies in the beginning of this blog post. Using round icing tip #5 or round icing tip #4, outline and flood the snowmen with white. (Leave room for the black hat!) Allow to set. I put the baking sheet in the refrigerator to speed it up. Using this same piping tip, pipe the scarf with red icing on top of the white icing. Using round icing tip #1, pipe the hat, eyes, and buttons with black icing. Using this same piping tip, pipe the nose with orange icing. Icing will completely set in about 2 hours at room temperature.
• Enjoy cookies right away or wait until the icing sets to serve them. Once the icing has set, these cookies are great for gifting or for sending. Plain or decorated cookies stay soft for about 5 days when covered tightly at room temperature. For longer storage, cover and refrigerate for up to 10 days.

SNOWMAN COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. In another bowl, whisk flour and baking powder; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Refrigerate, covered, overnight., Preheat oven to 325°. Shape dough into forty-eight 1-in. balls, forty-eight 3/4-in. balls and forty-eight 1/2-in. balls. On ungreased baking sheets, place one ball of each size, side by side, for each snowman., Bake 18-20 minutes or until light brown. Remove from oven; cool on pans 2 minutes. Press on chocolate chips for eyes and M&M's for buttons. Carefully remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, in a small bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, extract and enough milk to reach a piping consistency. If two colors of frosting are desired, transfer half of the frosting to another bowl and tint each with a different food coloring., Cut a small hole in a corner of a food-safe plastic bag; fill with frosting. Pipe scarves on snowmen. Use frosting to attach chocolate kisses for hats.

MELTED SNOWMAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat egg whites lightly in a large bowl using an electric mixer until frothy. Slowly beat enough confectioners' sugar into egg whites to make icing that will hold shape; blend in lemon juice until desired consistency is reached.
• Arrange cookies about 1-inch apart on a large sheet of waxed paper. Spread icing onto each cookie, allowing icing to drip over edges to look like melting snow.
• Grease a microwave-safe plate. Place 1 marshmallow onto plate.
• Microwave marshmallow until it starts to puff up, 20 to 30 seconds. Immediately place marshmallow on the edge of 1 cookie while the icing is still wet to look like a melted snowman. Repeat with remaining marshmallows and iced cookies.
• Decorate 'melted snowmen' by piping 'twig-like arms' using black decorating gel on the icing. Make 'coal eyes' and a 'mouth' on the marshmallow using black decorating gel. Make a 'carrot nose' under the 'coal eyes' using orange decorating gel. Make 'coat buttons' by arranging silver nonpareils down the middle of the icing. Make 'scarves' or 'bow-ties' using red decorating gel or green decorating gel.
• Allow cookies to fully dry before removing from waxed paper, at least 1 hour.

SNOWMAN SUGAR COOKIES WITH FROSTING

Steps:

• Cut cookie dough into 1/4 inch slices.
• Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
• Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
• For frosting, in a small mixing bowl, cream shortening and butter.
• Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar.
• Beat in milk and vanilla until smooth.
• Spread over cookies.
• Decorate with chocolate chips, candy corn and red hots.

SUGAR-COOKIE SNOWMEN

Steps:

• In electric mixer, beat butter and sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla, baking soda, and salt and beat at medium speed until incorporated. Beat in egg. Add flour and mix at low speed until just combined. Divide dough in half, form into 2 disks, and wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
• Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Remove 1 dough disk from refrigerator. On lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Using 5- to 6-inch snowman cookie cutter, cut out cookies; transfer with spatula to baking sheets. Gather and reroll scraps and cut out additional cookies. Chill cookies 10 minutes.
• Bake until golden and somewhat firm to touch, about 15 minutes. Cool on pans 5 minutes, then transfer to racks and cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
• To decorate cookies: Transfer royal icing to pastry bag fitted with #3 or #4 plain round tip. (Alternatively, place icing in sturdy plastic bag and snip off tiny hole from one corner.) Pipe outline around edge of cookie, then make dots for eyes, nose, and mouth and place mini M&M on each. Pipe 3 lines across hat area, cut black licorice to fit, and place to make hat. Pipe 3 dots for buttons and place cinnamon candy on each. Pipe horizontally across neck and cut and fit red licorice in place for scarf.
• Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour, depending on humidity). Wrap cookies individually in cellophane bags tied with ribbon.