Melted Snowman Sugar Cookies: Winter’s Over, But You Will Never Stop Wanting to Eat These Cookies

 Even though we are starting to have some really amazing Spring weather in here in the Midwest, my mind is still on snowmen. Frozen just came out on DVD, so I thought I’d make some cute little melted snowman cookies to munch on while I enjoy the movie. What are melted snowman cookies? Why, I’m glad you asked! They are adorable little sugar cookies topped with royal icing and marshmallows that look like a tiny snowman just melted on your plate. Eeek, so cute!

 They are super sweet, crunchy, and almost too adorable to eat– almost. They do require a bit of work, but you can easily speed up the process by using store bough sugar cookie dough and icing. For best results, however, I would make the icing for the puddles at home, because to my knowledge there aren’t any good substitutes.

So if you just can’t get over the fact that Winter has met it’s end, bake up a batch of these adorable sugar cookies. They are a huge hit with adults and kids alike.

Melted Snowman Sugar Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes including decorating

Ingredients:

For the Sugar Cookies

• 2 sticks of butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Icing

• 5 egg whites, preferably pasteurized (5 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 7-10 cups powdered sugar, divided
• black, orange, green, red, and/or blue food coloring or colored icing in a tube for decorating

For the Snowmen

• nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil
• 24 large marshmallows

Instructions:

Make the Sugar Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper or oil lightly with vegetable oil.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. Add in the egg and vanilla, then beat until fully incorporated. In another medium bowl, sift together the baking powder, flour, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until the dough comes together.

Divide the dough into 24 golf ball sized balls. Pat each ball out into a puddle shape onto your prepared baking sheets, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. Bake the cookies until they just begin to become brown on the bottom, about 8 minutes. Let them cool while you make the frosting.

Make the Royal Icing

In a large bowl, beat together the egg whites with the vanilla extract and 5 cups of the powdered sugar with an electric mixer until it is fully incorporated. This will be used for making the snowman puddle on your cookies. Divide this mixture between 2 bowls. Mix enough powdered sugar into one of the bowls so that the icing becomes almost as thick as a paste. This will be used for piping designs onto your melted snowman cookies. You may then divide this frosting and color it as you please. This step can also be skipped and you can use store bought colored frosting. If you choose to do this, prepare only half of the icing recipe.

Microwave the Marshmallows

Lightly grease 2 plates with vegetable oil, then place 12 marshmallows on each plate. Microwave the marshmallows just until they begin to expand, about 10-30 seconds. Do not allow them to get too big or they will be melty and too difficult to handle when you try to place them on your cookies.

Assemble

Place the less thick royal icing in a piping bag or resealable zip top bag with one of the corners cut off. Arrange the cookies on a rack with a piece of parchment paper underneath, then pipe a puddle onto each cookie. It’s okay if the frosting runs off the cookie a little bit, as this adds to the whole puddle effect. If the icing seems way too thin, stir in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and try again.

Place 1 marshmallow on the edge of each cookie, sinking it into the icing slightly. Allow the icing to harden for at least an hour before you decorate.

Using the black icing, pipe a face onto each cookie. Finish it off with a carrot nose. If your icing is thick enough, you may even be able to pipe a 3D nose on the snowmen. To do this, simply create a little dollop of orange frosting with a pointed tip at the end. Decorate with additions like a scarf, bow tie, buttons, arms, or whatever else your heart desires. Allow the icing to harden for at least 2 hours more (if you can wait that long), then enjoy!