These cut-out chocolate snowman cookies will make everyone swoon. Little mango noses and licorice buttons make them extra cute!
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If you are attending a cookie swap this year, and want to win, these snowman cookies are the ones to take.
Wait, what was that? Cookie swaps aren't competitions? News to me!
Totally kidding. I love cookie swaps for the variety, and I love the events where you get the recipes at the end. So fun to leave with a slew of new holiday recipes!
In all seriousness, these Chocolate Snowman Cookies are darling and smiley, chocolaty and sweet. They are sure to make everyone happy. I developed these for, now closed, All You magazine. It was sadly their last issue, but I was thrilled that my little guys made the cover.
For this unique Christmas cookie, I made a rich chocolate cookie, almost a shortbread, but not as crumbly. It's a mix between shortbread and a chocolate sugar cookie. Super chocolatey and delicious on its own!
If you've been searching for easy Christmas cookie decorating ideas, look no further than these adorable chocolate snowman cookies!
Ingredients for Snowman Cookies
To make the snowman Christmas cookies, I mixed together the usual blend of flour, salt, butter, eggs, and vanilla.
Instead of using regular white sugar, I sweetened the cookies with confectioners' sugar. For the chocolate flavor, I opted to use unsweetened cocoa powder.
To decorate the snowman cookies, I used my go-to royal icing recipe, plus some finely chopped mango pieces and licorice laces. I drew on the smile with a food-safe marker.
How to Make Snowman Cookies
The cookie dough comes together like your typical cookie recipe. Once the dough comes together, it needs to be chilled until firm (about 1 hour).
After the dough has been chilled, it's ready to be rolled out and cut.
The secret to these snowy sweet men are concentric cookie cutters. You need three different sizes. I love my nested round cookie cutter set, and it's perfect for this recipe. (Order my favorite from Ateco here).
Once you've baked the chocolate cut out cookies, let them cool completely on a wire rack.
Then, frost with white royal icing (so it gets hard and the cookies travel well!), snip dried mangoes for noses and licorice laces for their eyes and buttons. The little smile is made once the icing has set and dried, using a food marker.
Tip: Below is the printable recipe, and here is the page from the magazine with gifting information.
How to Store the Cookies
Store the royal icing snowman cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for five days.
Tips for Making Snowman Cookies
- I decorated the snowman Christmas cookies with pieces of dried mango and licorice laces. However, you're welcome to use other decorations if desired.
- This is a great make-ahead recipe for a cookie decorating party. Simply bake the chocolate cut out cookies and whisk together the royal icing the day before, then store until ready to assemble and decorate.
- If you don't have concentric cookie cutters, get creative! Mix and match jar lids, glasses, and cups until you find three round objects to use to cut out the cookies.
More Christmas Cookie Decorating Ideas:
- Christmas Tree Cookies
- Christmas Tree Lollipop Cookies
- Santa's Face Cookies
- Reindeer Cookies
- Christmas Cut Out Cookies
Chocolate Snowman Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1¼ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Royal Icing
- 4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 4 tablespoon meringue powder
- ⅓ cup water
Decorations
- Dried Mango
- Licorice laces
- Food-safe marker
Instructions
Make the cookies:
- Whisk together flour, cocoa powder and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla.
- Reduce Speed to low and gradually add flour mixture; mix until just combined.
- Divide dough in half. Form each half into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough to ¼-inch thickness on a lightly floured sheet of parchment. Brush off excess flour, transfer parchment to a baking sheet and freeze dough until firm, about 15 minutes.
- Use cookie cutters to create 28 cookies of each size: 2¼", 1¾", and 1". Re-roll scraps as needed. Transfer cookies to new parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Bake until cooked through, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on sheets.
Make the royal icing:
- Mixing together 4 cups confectioners' sugar, 4 tablespoon meringue powder and ⅓ cup water. (Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, until icing is the consistency of honey.) Cover or use immediately.
- Fill a piping bag with icing (or spoon into a ziplock bag; using scissors, cut a small hole in corner.) Cover top of each cookie with icing.
- Slice small rectangular pieces of dried mango for snowman noses and press on center of smallest iced cookies. Slice off tiny pieces of licorice laces to create eyes and buttons; place on iced cookies.
- Let icing set, about 2 hours. Add a dab of icing on bottom of all 1-inch and 1¾-inch cookies; stack 1 cookie of each size to make snowman. Using a food-safe marker, draw a smile below nose. Repeat with remaining cookies.
Notes
Nutrition
Tasty cookie recipes!
About Tara Teaspoon
I’ve been in the food publishing business for over 20 years, creating recipes & food-styling for magazines, books, television & advertising. Order my new cookbook & stick around for amazing things to eat.
Recipe and Food Styling by Tara Teaspoon, Photography Jonny Valiant, Prop Styling Blake Ramsey Murray, Original version published in All You Magazine Dec 2015. Updated Oct 2021
