How To Decorate Peanut Butter Cut-Out Snowman Cookies
Earlier this month, Elisa Strauss taught us how to decorate adorable snowman cookies during our Cookie Decorating Livestream as part of our 25 Days of Bake Yourself Happy. Elisa shared with us the step-by-step instructions so that you can take what you learned and make these cute cookies at home!
The snowmen are made with royal icing, so you will have to bake and ice them the day before you plan to decorate them.
To start, bake a batch of our Iced Christmas Tree Peanut Butter Cookies, using a snowman cookie cutter instead of using a Christmas tree cookie cutter. Elisa replaced Smooth Operator in the recipe with Dark Chocolatey Dreams - but you can use any one of our delicious varieties!
Second, you'll need to make a batch of royal icing. To make royal icing, combine 3/4 cup egg whites, 1lb. confectioners sugar, and a teaspoon of lemon juice. If you are not comfortable using fresh egg whites, you can make royal icing with meringue powder instead. To do so, mix together 3 tbsp meringue powder, 1lb. confectioners sugar, and 6 tbsp water. You can check out this video by Elisa on YouTube for a little help!
Now that you have your cookies and royal icing, you'll need some additional materials for decorating. Feel free to get creative here!
- Rolled Fondant: orange for nose, various colors for hat/scarves (you can purchase rolled fondant at most craft supply stores or online)
- Gumdrop candies for “ear muffs”
- Black and gold edible pearls or any other decorating candies
You'll also need some tools to help you decorate your cookies. You can find pastry bags and plastic couplers and pastry tips at most craft stores or online.
- Pastry bags and plastic couplers
- Pastry tips: #2, #3
- Scissors
- Toothpicks
- Food Markers
- Small rolling pin
- Small knife
- Small paintbrush (optional)
Now, let's get to the decorating!
First, fill a pastry bag fitted with a #2 tip with royal icing. Using the shape of the cookie as your guide, pipe a complete outline of the cookie. Make sure there are no gaps in the outline or your flood will spill outside the line.
Next, add a bit of water to the remaining icing to loosen it, and fill a pastry bag fitted with a #3 tip. To fill or "flood" the rest of the cookie, pipe your looser icing inside the outlines you've created. Let the cookie dry for at least 20 minutes before moving. If you disturb the cookie too soon the icing may run off the sides! Allow the cookies to dry overnight before decorating.
For the nose, roll a pea-sized amount of orange rolled fondant into a cone shape with the point at one end (or use the tip of a candy corn candy!) Attach to the face with a dab of water
Use the food markers to draw two eyes and a smile. You can add two circles on either side of the mouth for rosy cheeks.
For the Hat, use the backside of a pastry tip or any small circle you have and fold the top edges into a hat shape- add any marks with the knife to give the look of knitting.
If you rather ear muffs for your snowman, just cut gum drops in half and you have two muffs!
To make the scarf, roll out one long piece of fondant and cut in two separate pieces. It makes it easier to attach this way. Before attaching, make fringe or add any stripes, polka dots or knitted markings desired. Attach with water.
Lastly, once everything is on add three black pearls for “buttons” with some royal icing to hold them.
