Snowman Cookies
These colourful snowmen will brighten up a dreary winter day and are a fun addition to any Christmas gathering. Get as creative as you like with the expressions and hat styles!
Ingredients
1 quantity Vanilla Cookie dough
confectioners’ (icing) sugar, for dusting
14 oz. (400 g) ready-to-roll white fondant icing
2 teaspoons corn (golden) syrup
12 currants, halved
2 oz. (50 g) ready-to roll orange fondant icing
2 oz. (50 g) ready-to roll red fondant icing
6 oz. (150 g) ready-to-roll purple, black,
blue, and green fondant icing
2 baking sheets
non-stick baking parchment
3-in. (7-cm) round cookie cutter
makes 12
Directions
Make the Vanilla Cookie dough and chill in the refrigerator for 1–2 hours. Meanwhile, cut pieces of non-stick baking parchment to cover the baking sheets.
Roll the dough out to a thickness of ⅛ in. (3 mm) on a lightly floured work surface. Using the round cookie cutter, carefully stamp out shapes and arrange them on the prepared baking sheets. Gather together the scraps of the dough and re-roll to make more shapes. Refrigerate for 15 minutes and ask an adult to help you preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Bake the cookies on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for about 12 minutes, or until golden, swapping the sheets around if needed. Let cool on the sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Now for the decorating! First lightly dust the work surface and a rolling pin with confectioners’ (icing) sugar. Roll out half the white fondant icing until it is ⅛ in. (3 mm) thick. Using the cutter you used to make the cookies, stamp out 12 rounds of the white icing.
Vanilla cookies
Most of the cookie recipes in this book can be made with this basic vanilla recipe or the gingerbread cookie recipe. Remember to chill the dough for 2 hours or longer before rolling it out and shaping it into cookies. You’ll also need to make sure your baked cookies are completely cold before decorating, otherwise the frosting will melt or slide off.
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups (450 g) all-purpose (plain) flour, plus extra for dusting
pinch of salt
1 3/4 sticks (225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (225 g) unrefined superfine (golden caster) sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 baking sheets
non-stick baking parchment
makes 12–24
Directions
Place a large strainer (sieve) over a mixing bowl. Tip the flour and salt into the strainer and then sift them into the mixing bowl. Put the bowl to one side.
Put the soft butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl and beat them together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is soft, creamy, and pale. (If an adult is helping, you could use an electric beater.)
Break the egg into a small bowl and remove any pieces of shell. Beat the egg with a fork until the yolk has broken up and the mixture is a bit frothy. Add the beaten egg and vanilla extract to the creamed butter mixture and mix together well.
Finally, add the sifted flour and mix everything together until the flour is mixed in and the mixture forms a dough. Stop mixing as soon as the flour is all mixed in.
Tip the ball of dough out onto the work surface and flatten into a disc. Put the dough into a sealable food bag, or wrap it in plastic wrap (clingfilm), and chill in the refrigerator for 1–2 hours. Meanwhile, line two baking sheets with baking parchment.
You are now ready to roll out the dough and follow your recipe. Sprinkle a little flour on a clean work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of about ⅛ in. (3–4 mm). Stamp out shapes with cookie cutters and arrange on the prepared baking sheets. Gather up any scraps of cookie dough, knead very lightly to bring together into a ball, and roll out again to stamp out more cookies. Chill in the refrigerator for a further 15 minutes.
Ask an adult to turn the oven on to 350°F (180°C) Gas 4 and, when the oven is preheated, ask an adult to help you put the baking sheets on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for 10–12 minutes until pale golden. Remove from the oven and leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
TIP:These cookies will keep unfrosted for 3 days in an airtight box. If they’ve been frosted, they should be eaten within 24 hours
Recipe, instructions and photo from “My First Cookie & Cake Decorating Book” from Cico Kidz.
