Stacked Snowman Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half; shape each into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. With a 2-in. round cookie cutter, cut out 18 circles. Repeat with 1-1/2-in. and 1-in. round cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake 7-10 minutes or until edges are set. Cool completely on wire racks., Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine confectioner's sugar, meringue powder, 1/3 cup water and, if desired, extract; beat on low speed just until combined. Beat on high 4-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Add enough remaining water until icing no longer holds a peak. Keep unused icing covered at all times with a damp cloth. Using a pastry bag and #2 round tip, pipe icing over cookies. Let stand at least 5 minutes before gently stacking cookies to create snowmen. Let stand at room temperature several hours or until frosting is dry and firm. Using a new fine-tipped paintbrush, decorate snowmen with food coloring as desired.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat butter in a bowl using an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat white sugar, baking powder, and salt into butter until just combined. Beat egg, milk, and vanilla extract into butter-sugar mixture; add flour and mix until dough is just combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is slightly chilled, about 10 minutes.
• Scoop dough into balls slightly larger than golf balls; flatten into cookies. Arrange cookies on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges are golden brown, 10 to 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
• Butter a microwave-safe plate. Place marshmallows on the prepared plate.
• Microwave marshmallows until slightly puffed, 10 to 15 seconds. Gently press marshmallows until bottoms slightly ooze.
• Whisk confectioners' sugar and water together in a bowl until icing is slightly thicker than drizzle-consistency. Pour icing over cookies so it runs over the edges, reserving about 1 tablespoon.
• Melt chocolate chips in a microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl, about 30 seconds. Pour melted chocolate into a piping bag with a small tip or a plastic bag with a corner snipped.
• Press 1 marshmallow close to an edge of each cookie to be the snowman's head. Draw 'stick arms' onto the icing using the melted chocolate.
• Divide the reserved 1 tablespoon icing into 2 small bowls. Mix red food coloring into 1 of the bowls and orange food coloring into the other bowl. Decorate the snowmen with scarves or ties using the red icing and yellow icing.

Steps:

• Beat three 8-ounce packages cream cheese and 1 stick butter (both at room temperature) with a mixer until creamy. Beat in 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Divide into 3 balls (large, medium and small) and wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill 2 hours, then roll in unsweetened shredded coconut and stack the snowman. Add brown mini M&M'S for the eyes, mouth and buttons, and red and green M&M'S for the nose and scarf (attach with icing, if necessary). Add pretzel arms. Serve with fruit or cookies.

Steps:

• Mix the flour, cocoa and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Beat the butter with the sugars in another bowl for about 3 mins until pale and creamy. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet, and bring together with your hands. Wrap the dough and leave to chill in the fridge for 1 hr.
• Heat the oven to 170C/150C fan/ gas 3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of about 4mm, and press out circles in three sizes. Place them, sorted by size, on baking sheets lined with baking parchment. Bake the smallest cookies for 6-8 mins and the remainder for about 10-12 mins. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Tip the icing sugar into a small bowl and gradually add the milk, stirring until smooth and thick. Coat the tops of the biscuits with it using a small knife, then stack three of each biscuit, starting with the largest. Cut the cranberries into small pieces and stick to the snowmen as eyes, mouths and buttons. Cut the strips of mango into the shape of mini carrots, and place them on the faces as noses. Leave to dry. Will keep in an airtight container for up to three days. Recipe adapted from Let it Snow by Agnes Prus (£7.99, Hardie Grant). Photographs © Frauke Antholz.