Melted Snowman Cookies

It seems that as soon as Thanksgiving is over, life goes into hyper drive.  We are running around trying to find time to see friends, family and attend multiple Christmas events. Christmas is the only holiday that takes over an entire month. It is no surprise that we have been squeezing in cooking lessons between school and rock climbing. While we rush everywhere we try to remember to enjoy the moments.  When you set out to create your Christmas cookies, slow down and enjoy the time spent together. Tuck that phone into the corner, crank up the music and have fun!

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time:  30-40 mins

Servings: approx. 2 dozen

Ingredients:

• 1  cups butter (softened)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (frosting)
• 3 tablespoons milk (frosting)
• 1 tablespoons corn syrup (frosting)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla  (frosting)

PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 DEGREES

STEP ONE:

Measure the flour and set aside.

STEP TWO:

Blend the butter and sugar with an electric mixer (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer).  

STEP THREE:

Beat in the egg, then mix in vanilla.

In the next step I told Jamison to add the flour.  He informed me that we already added the flour; turns out it was actually sugar.  We did a little exercise in feeling the difference between flour and sugar to try to figure out what we had in fact added.

STEP FOUR:

Slowly mix in the flour and mix until a soft dough forms.

STEP FIVE:

Spill the dough onto the counter and pat/roll it into a ball.  Once separated, flatten each ball into a disc and wrap it in plastic wrap.  Chill in the fridge for at least half an hour, but per the directions it can sit for up to four days.

STEP SIX:

Pat or roll the disc out to about 1/8 inch thick.  We find this measurement is always hard to make perfect, so decide how thick you want your cookies and do your best.

Cut the cookies out with cookie cutters and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  (Most recipes will say ungreased cookie sheet, but we always use spray as a precaution)

Of course with two bags full of cookie cutters we didn’t have a circle!  We made do with our mason jar.

STEP SEVEN:

Bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  

STEP EIGHT:

While the cookies are baking make the sweet frosting!

We tried a new mix for the frosting and used corn syrup instead of butter. Combine the powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup and vanilla in a mixer until smooth.

The corn syrup was a little heavy so you may need to help out.

Don’t be afraid to add more milk if the consistency is thick, or more powdered sugar if watery.

It is usually helpful to have the wire whip attached when you start to mix. The frosting definitely wasn’t getting mixed which added lots of laughs!

STEP NINE:

TIME TO DECORATE

After the cookies have cooled, frost them. Then cut part of a larger marshmallow half. This will be used as the snowman head, and the frosting allows it to stick. Before placing Frosty’s head onto the cookie, take brown sprinkles for the eyes and an orange sprinkle for the nose.  This part was difficult for Jameson’s tiny hands so I created all the heads. He was able to use the M&Ms as buttons for the coat and the brown sprinkles for the arms. Now, the original pictures had the arms placed perfectly, but we both agreed that the snowman was melting, so they were everywhere! Have fun with it.

We hope that you had fun and will join us again for our next lesson!

OUTTAKES

Originally posted on PNW Family Explorers

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