What better place to find festive cookie decorating ideas than from a holiday cookie platter? That’s where Lisa (BearfootBaker) of the popular cookie decorating blog The Bearfoot Baker discovered the inspiration behind her adorable rosy-cheeked snowman cookies. Lisa really started from scratch with these cookies, creating her own original template and creatively piecing together the snowman shape using a variety of cutters.

Find her template and a description of each and every step in the detailed tutorial below!

Here’s a word from Lisa about the inspiration behind her snowman treats:

I love the holidays because all the stores put out cute little snowman things. I shop just to see if I can find inspiration for snowman cookies.

I found this cookie platter [pictured above] at an after Christmas sale several years ago. I loved it so much I bought two. I really wish I could remember where I got it. This little guy melts my heart every time I see him. He is one of the first winter decorations I drag out and one of the last I pack away. This year, I decided to make him into a cookie. Why not? If something makes you happy why not have a cookie version of it?

Materials

This baby cutter OR a football cutter, candy corn cutter and medicine cup cutter
White outline and flood icing
Dark brown outline icing
Light brown flood icing
Orange outline icing
Blue outline and flood icing (or any color you want for the scarf)
Pink petal dust for the cheeks
Americolor Edible Marker
Small food-safe paintbrush
Sugar cookie recipe
Royal icing recipe
I love using the Boo Boo Stick from Karen’s Cookies for the tiny white dots on the star cookie, but you can also use a toothpick.

Instructions

I cut the dough two different ways to show you there is more than one way to build a snowman. The first thing I did was make a template so I could get the right size.

I used a football for the head, a candy corn for the body and I didn’t have a small circle or oval that would work so I grabbed a medicine cup. I gave each of them a good squeeze to get them the shape I needed. When I cut the feet I dipped my cup in flour so the dough would come out easier.

When you make the feet be careful not to put them to close together. If they are too close they will not look good.

If you prefer to hand cut here is how you do it. You can download the pattern from my freebie page.

Roll your dough out and put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes to get it really cold. Place your image on it and cut around it with your knife. That is all you have to do! If you do multiple snowmen, you might have to place the dough back in the freezer. When it becomes warm, it gets soft and your knife will tear it instead of cutting it.

Whether you use cutters or the hand-cut method to cut out your snowman, you will end up with the same results in the end.

Using your white outline icing, outline the entire cookie.

Next, use your white flood icing to flood. Let him dry overnight. If you rush this part, it might bleed.

Now with your dark brown and blue outline icing, outline the scarf and star. I used a small star cookie cutter and outlined it with an edible marker to make the star the size I wanted.

Now with your light brown icing you can flood the inside of the star, but be ready to work fast because we are going to do a wet-on-wet technique for the chocolate chips.

Wet-on-wet is when you add icing to icing that is not dry yet. As soon as you flood the cookie with the light brown, use your dark brown outline icing to make dots for the chocolate chips. I added about 6 dots with the dark brown.

Next, I squeezed a small amount of brown and white outline icing onto a piece of parchment paper.

Then, I dipped my Boo Boo Stick into the brown and gently touched the cookie. Repeat with the white to give it more depth.

Now, with your blue food icing you can flood the scarf except for the part shown above. Let the small end and the horizontal part dry about 30 minutes before you food the last end. It will give you more of a 3-D look.

While the blue is wet, use the white outline icing to make lines on the scarf. Now, wait a little while for it to dry.

Next, with the white outline icing, outline the arms, head and body.

Now, with the white flood icing, flood the arms.

Next, use the orange icing to make a dot for the nose.

For the cheeks, use a small paintbrush to apply pink petal dust to the cheeks. You want to make sure your base icing is dry so you don’t poke a hole in it with the brush. Just dip the brush in petal dust and rub it onto the snowman’s cheeks in a small circle until you reach the shade you want.

Now, using the blue flood icing, flood the other end of the scarf.

While this scarf end is wet, use the white outline icing to add the stripes.

Add the eyes with a drop of black icing. Alternatively, you can use these eyes and you are all done!

About the Author:

I am Lisa and I love to bake. When I was a little girl, I would spend nights with my grandmother just so I could play in the kitchen while she cooked. Her banana pudding and chocolate pie was out of this world! While I was standing in that kitchen chair beside one of my favorite people in the world, my baking passion was born. I love to create things in the kitchen and The Bearfoot Baker blog was the perfect way to share a little sweetness.