Holiday Baking #14: Snowman Cookies

Any of you who have been following along with my cooking adventures for very long knows that I love finding fun kitchen projects to do with my kids....the cuter the better!  These adorable little snowmen cookies I found in Taste of Home were everything I was looking for.   They were simple to make, they were fun and cute, and actually tasted really good.  They had a subtle cheesecake flavor to them and we were in love with the texture, although we were at a loss for words on how to describe it.   The kids had a blast decorating their own snowmen creations and there's no doubt we'll definitely be making these cute little fellows again soon! 

Click here for printable recipe. 

The ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 pkg. (8-ounces) cream cheese, softened
2-1/4 cups sugar, divided
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
pretzel sticks
Frosting gels
Orange gumdrops

Directions:  In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, and 2 cups of sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and extracts.  Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. 

Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least for at least 30 minutes or until easy to handle (don't skip this). 

Shape dough in 1-inch, 3/4-inch, and 1/2-inch balls.  For each snowman, gently press one of each size ball together; gently roll in remaining sugar.  Place 2-inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. 

Break pretzel sticks in half; press into the sides of each cookie, forming arms. 

Bake at 325° for 15-18 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned.  Cool 1 minute before removing to wire racks.  Decorate as desired using frosting gels and orange gumdrop noses.  

(I used the tip of  a sharp knife to make a small hole for the nose.  I then used scissors to cut the orange gumdrops to look like a small carrot, then placed it into the hole I had created.)

 

The kids had a great time decorating their little snowmen cuties! 

Enjoy!


*********

Come back every day through December for a new holiday goody recipe! 
Don't forget to grab my button and link back to us...

<center><a href="http://recipeshoebox.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtaex9nALqba0lTmUksZUgBHB9M5ESLivqFsEES1dSjYb96wjaNn6TACIkWJJrLlUt9fVzLvq0vWWS-nkAFKhj9wfrP9H94l_Vz5CGkv5XENURS6k-x__GrBM2s6BbnQ0YQMMroWDl3z0Y/"/></a></center>