These chubby snowman cookies are soft, buttery sugar cookies made with two balls of cookie dough, making them extra round and adorable! There's no cookie cutter needed, which makes these Christmas cookies especially easy to make.
If you're planning your holiday baking, don't miss my 40 Christmas Cookie Recipes for more classic and festive cookies to add to your Christmas cookie tray.
These adorable snowman cookies are so cute and delicious. One batch makes 26 snowman cookies, and because you simply scoop and shape the dough, there's no rolling pin or cookie cutter required.
Why I Like This Recipe
- Easy to make: No need to roll out cookie dough or use cookie cutters. Just scoop the dough into balls!
- Tried and true recipe: I use the same sugar cookie recipe for my Classic Candy Cane Sugar Cookies. It's a good one and super flavorful!
- No-chill cookie dough: No-chill recipes are my favorite. These cookies come together quickly!
- Fun to customize: I used buttercream frosting for the scarves and black sprinkles for the eyes and coal. You can use mini chocolate chips, black frosting, or whatever you have on hand.
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Tips and Tricks
- Use a cookie scoop. I use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop to make sure all of the cookie dough balls are the same size. You'll use one tablespoon-sized ball for each snowman's body and break another ball in half to make the head.
- Baking sheets. I always bake cookies on light-colored baking sheets. If you use dark metal baking sheets, you'll need to reduce the baking time to prevent the bottoms from browning too quickly.
- Don't overwork the dough. Roll each piece of dough between your hands just until it forms a smooth ball. I like squishing the scoop of dough in my hands first and then rolling it back into a ball. This makes a nice, smooth snowman.
- Let the cookies cool before decorating. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet before decorating. They set up nicely as they cool, making them easy to frost and decorate.
- Make frosting ahead. You'll have leftover buttercream after decorating these cookies, but that's not a bad thing! I like freezing leftover frosting in freezer bags or disposable piping bags, so I have frosting ready to go for another baking project.
- Storage tip. These will stay fresh for about 3 days, but you can freeze them for months.
Ingredients
- Butter: I always use salted butter. If you use unsalted butter, add ½ teaspoon of salt to the recipe (add when you mix in the flour and cornstarch).
- Sugar: some sugar cookie recipes call for powdered sugar, but I use granulated sugar in mine.
- Egg: room temperature or chilled.
- Vanilla Extract: have you tried making your own vanilla extract? It adds amazing flavor to any recipe.
- Almond Extract: you can omit if you don't like almond extract, but I always add a splash!
- Baking Powder: for leavening.
- Corn Starch: if you don’t have any corn starch on hand you can omit it, but I highly recommend adding a bit to your recipe. It makes for a more tender cookie.
- Flour: all-purpose flour works great, but you can use bread flour too.
- Frosting: I use basic buttercream to decorate cookies, and it works great! My measurements are for a full batch of buttercream. You won't need a full batch, but I like freezing the leftovers in plastic freezer bags (or disposable piping bags). It's nice to have frosting on hand.
- Helpful supplies: #5 frosting tip, and disposable frosting bags. I had some carrot noses left over from a sprinkle kit that is no longer in stock, and used black round sprinkles from a Halloween sprinkle mix I had in the pantry.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Snowman Sugar Cookies
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl combine butter and sugar. Beat until fluffy. Turn the mixer down and add egg and extracts. Add baking powder. Add the flour and cornstarch and mix thoroughly. Keep mixing until the dough comes together.
Step 2: Use a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop to scoop all of the dough into balls.
Step 3: Roll each ball smooth between your hands. Use a cookie dough ball for each snowman's body and half of a cookie dough ball for each snowman's head.
Note: I like squishing the scoop of dough in my hands and then rolling it back into a ball. It makes for a smoother ball of dough.
Step 4: Place rolled cookie dough balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet 2" apart. Flatten cookies slightly with your fingers.
Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet* before decorating.
Step 5: Beat frosting ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Tint the frosting for the scarves with food coloring. Use a small round frosting tip and a disposable bag to pipe frosting on for details.
Decorate cookies with sprinkles and buttercream frosting. Use a small round frosting tip to pipe white frosting to attach the facial details. Add a scarf using the same size frosting tip.
Step 6: Frosting will crust, making these easy to package up.
Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Sugar cookies freeze well and can be made in advance for holiday treat plates.
Snowman Cookies FAQs
Corn starch softens the dough, making it feel like a cloud. It also makes for a softer sugar cookie.
Buttercream. Always buttercream! It tastes delicious, sets up but stays soft, and is a dream to work with. I use basic buttercream to decorate cookies, and it works great!
Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Sugar cookies freeze well and can be made in advance for holiday treat plates.
No! That's one of the things I love about this sugar cookie recipe.
You can scoop, shape, and bake the dough right away.
Yes! These sugar cookies freeze well. You can freeze the baked and decorated cookies in an airtight, freezer-safe container. You can also freeze leftover buttercream frosting in a freezer bag for up to 6 months. It's handy to have homemade frosting ready whenever you need it.
More Holiday Cookie Recipes To Make
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Chubby Snowman Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Dough
- 1 cup salted butter softened (if using unsalted butter, add ½ teaspoon salt to recipe)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 ¾ cups flour
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup butter softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 Tbsp. milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl combine butter and sugar. Beat until fluffy. Turn the mixer down and add egg and extracts. Add baking powder. Add the flour and cornstarch and mix thoroughly. Keep mixing until the dough comes together.
- Use a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop to scoop all of the dough into balls.
- Roll each ball smooth between your hands. Use a cookie dough ball for each snowman's body and half of a cookie dough ball for each snowman's head.Place rolled cookie dough balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet 2" apart.
- Flatten cookies slightly with your fingers.Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet* before decorating. *Note: You can transfer the cookies to a cooling rack after a few minutes, but I found that it wasn't necessary when making these. They cooled quickly, and it allowed them to set up perfectly.
- Beat frosting ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Tint the frosting for the scarves with food coloring.Use a small round frosting tip and disposable bag to pipe frosting on for details.
- Decorate cookies with sprinkles and buttercream frosting.
- Frosting will crust making these easy to package up.
Cheryl says
These cookies are adorable. The dough easily comes together and rolls smoothly. I had some trouble with decorating with the confetti eyes and scarf. I felt the icing tip size should have been smaller than the recipe states. My snowmen are chubby and cute, the grandkids loved them and proclaimed them the best ever!
Kathleen says
I gave 2 questions:
#1 ..I'd like to double the recipe..any issues ?
#2 I'd like to make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze and then bake closer to Christmas..any recommendations?
Thank you
Brandy says
Hi Kathleen! You can easily double the recipe. I haven’t frozen the unbaked dough before, but I’d imagine that you couldn’t easily flatten it into two round discs, wrap with a couple of layers of plastic and then freeze. Let thaw completely then shape normally and bake!
Kathryn says
Where do you get the decorations for the eyes and nose? I cannot find those exact decorations. Thanks!
Brandy says
The black sprinkles actually came from a Halloween assortment like these: https://shopstyle.it/l/cwqN5.
The carrot ones are from a snowman sprinkle kit that I bought a few years back. You can search "carrot sprinkles" or "snowman sprinkles" to find ones similar. The ones I have are from Wilton and Walmart used to sell them every holiday season. I'm not sure if they still do. The package looked like this: https://shopstyle.it/l/cwqPC
Brandy says
Hi everyone! Brandy here, I love no-chill recipes, and this is a great one. The snowman turns out perfectly shaped every time! And the flavor is amazing. Don't skimp on the vanilla and almond extract if you can help it. Enjoy!
kelly mason says
Do you need to chill the dough?
Brandy says
No