Chewy Melted Snowmen Sugar Cookies

Welcome!

In this Instructable you'll find a simple, fun, tutorial on how to bake up a batch of melty snowman cookies!

These are just the thing if you want a creative treat to make and decorate with your little ones, and they do of course make excellent Christmas cookies, but they are fun and delicious all winter long, whether you're looking for a party treat, or just want to whip up a few to enjoy yourself.

A delectable sugar cookie recipe is included, but you can substitute your favorite version instead, if you like.

Skip to step 8 if you just want to see the decorating process!

Sugar Cookie Ingredients~

(makes approximately 24 cookies, depending on how big you make them)

1. 2 1/4 cups Flour
2. 1 tsp. Baking Powder
3. 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
4. 1/2 tsp. Salt
5. 1 1/2 cups Sugar (plus some for coating)
6. 2 oz Cream Cheese
7. 6 Tbsp. Butter, melted and still warm (but not hot)
8. 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
9. 1 Egg
10. 1 Tbsp. Whole Milk
11. 2 tsp. Vanilla

Decorating Supplies~

(You can take your own creative liberties here; other than the marshmallows and white frosting, the things listed are more like suggestions than essentials)

1. White Icing/Frosting of your choice
2. Marshmallows, 1 per cookie
3. Pretzels, broken to shape arms
4. M&Ms, for buttons
5. Brown or black sprinkles for eyes and mouth
6. orange sprinkle for carrot nose, 1 per cookie

1. Position your oven rack to middle position
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
3. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper

1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

1. Pour your sugar into a large mixing bowl.
2. Cut your cream cheese into about 8 pieces, before adding it to your sugar.
3. Pour warm, melted butter over the sugar and cream cheese.
4. Whisk it up until well incorporated (it doesn't have to be perfectly lump free, those little cream cheese bits will break down as you continue working).
5. Whisk in your oil.
6. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla, mixing them in well until smooth.

1. Pour the flour mixture into your butter-sugar mixture
2. It will be a bit obstinate at first, but work with it a bit until a nice, soft dough is formed- a rubber spatula may be helpful, but I like to use my hands to make sure everything is mixed together evenly.

1. This part is pretty simple- just roll around 2 Tbsp. of dough into a nice, round ball, then coat the ball in sugar, and place it on your prepared pan.
2. Take something like a drinking glass that you can press the dough with, and use it to flatten the balls into disks- if the dough sticks to the surface of the glass, just grease it a bit with some oil or butter.
3. Finish by sprinkling just a bit more sugar on the tops of your flattened cookies.

It is key that you DON'T OVERBAKE your cookies if you want them to be chewy!

1. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the edges just begin to brown, and the tops have begun to crack, for 11-13 minutes. Oftentimes I've thought that my cookies were underdone, only to find that they were just right, so err on the less cooked side! Remember, you can always pop them back in for a minute, but you can't un-bake burnt/crispy cookies.

If you don't want your frosting to melt, you need to let them cool down properly before continuing to the decorating process!

Note that they will deflate a bit as they cool.

1. I made my own royal icing, which just takes 4 egg whites, 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar, and vanilla, whipped for several minutes until thickened to desired consistency- you can do the same thing if you like, or use whatever you prefer.

1. You don't want to mound it on, just a nice, even layer will do the trick.

1. Coat one side of the marshmallow in the frosting so that the face will stick.
2. Stick the marshmallow on the edge of the frosted cookie.

1. Add two sprinkles for the eyes.
2. Add three sprinkles for the mouth.
3. Add one orange sprinkle for the carrot nose.
4. This can be a bit tricky- if you want it to look clean, it takes a steady hand.

1. Two M&Ms look nice here, but you may want to use more if you're using something smaller for the buttons.

1. If you're using pretzels, break them apart carefully to form arms.

Or, if you have the patience, admire them a bit first- they are quite quaint, afterall.