Description
Delightfully festive Snowman Sugar Cookies with a soft texture and classic flavor, decorated with colorful royal icing to bring holiday cheer to your table. Perfect for gifting or enjoying with family and friends during the winter season.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed for rolling and work surface
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but makes the flavor outstanding)
For Decorating
- Royal Icing
- Red gel food coloring
- Black gel food coloring
- Orange gel food coloring
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl using a handheld or 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 bottom of the bowl and beat again if needed.
- Combine Dough: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. The dough will be a bit soft; add 1 more tablespoon of flour if too sticky.
- Divide and Roll Out Dough: Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Place each on lightly floured parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Roll each portion to about 1/4-inch thickness using a lightly floured rolling pin.
- Layer and Chill Dough: Lightly dust one rolled-out dough with flour, place a parchment sheet on top, then place the second rolled dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap or foil, refrigerate for 1-2 hours or up to 2 days.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheets: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Cut Cookies: Remove top dough from refrigerator and separate if sticking. Use a snowman cookie cutter to cut shapes. Re-roll scraps and continue cutting all dough pieces.
- Bake Cookies: Arrange cookies 3 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes until lightly browned around edges. Rotate pans halfway if needed. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
- Prepare Icing Colors: Divide royal icing into 4 portions: one plain white, and three with red, black, and orange food coloring respectively. Adjust colors as desired.
- Decorate Cookies: Fit piping bag with Wilton tip #5 or #4 and fill with white icing. Pipe border and fill cookies leaving room for black hat. Let white icing set in refrigerator for faster drying.
- Add Details: Use separate piping bags with tip #1 for black icing to pipe hats, eyes, mouths, and buttons; pipe orange icing for noses; pipe red icing scarf with tip #4 or #5.
- Set Icing and Store: Let icing set 2-3 hours at room temperature. Store decorated cookies tightly covered at room temp for up to 5 days or refrigerate up to 10 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze plain or decorated cookies up to 3 months after icing has set, layered between parchment in a freezer container. Thaw in refrigerator or at room temperature.
- Cookie Dough Freezing: Prepare dough through step 3, divide, flatten into disks, wrap, and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw in fridge then bring to room temp 1 hour before rolling.
- Flavor Variations: Substitute almond extract with 1 teaspoon maple, coconut, lemon, or peppermint extract, or add 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice or cinnamon. Add lemon zest if using lemon extract.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Use cool-to-touch room temperature butter and egg to ensure proper dough texture and mixing.
- Decorating Tips: Use couplers to switch piping tips easily when using same sizes for different colors. Allow icing to fully set for best results.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 85 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg
