These yummy snowman sugar cookies are made with two balls of cookie dough, making them chubby and round. No cookie cutter needed! This post contains affiliate links.
You might also like our stacked snowman cookies or our classic candy cane cookies!
Chubby Snowman Sugar Cookies
These adorable snowmen are so cute and delicious. They are easy to make, too! No need to roll out cookie dough with a rolling pin and cut out with cookie cutters. Just scoop the dough into balls! One batch makes 26 adorable snowman cookies. I use the same sugar cookie recipe for candy cane cookies (the kind that you twist and shape into candy cane shapes). It's a good one and super flavorful!
Snowman Cookie 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.
How To Make Snowman Sugar Cookies
Making the cookie dough is pretty straightforward. Once the ingredients have been mixed, scoop the dough using a 1 Tbsp. sized scoop until all of the dough has been scooped. Place the cookie dough balls onto a baking sheet or work surface.
Roll each ball nice and smooth between your hands.
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.
You'll need one ball for each snowman's body and half of a ball for the head.
To make the head, break a cookie dough ball in half then roll each portion into a small ball.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cookie dough balls onto the baking sheet, using one large ball for the body and a small ball for the head.
Gently press the two balls together, then flatten the cookies SLIGHTLY with your fingers.
Bake for 12-14 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet.
Note: I only bake with light-colored baking sheets. If you bake with dark metal sheets you'll need to reduce the cooking time to prevent the bottoms of the cookies from browning too quickly.
How To Decorate Chubby Snowman Cookies
Helpful supplies: nose and eye sprinkles, #5 frosting tip, and disposable frosting bags.
I use basic buttercream to decorate cookies, and it works great!
Note: 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.
You can use frosting for the eyes and nose, or if you have candy or sprinkles to use for the eyes and nose, you can use those.
What I used: I had some carrot noses left over from a sprinkle kit that is no longer in stock, but these look very similar and come with little hats, too. I also used black round sprinkles from a Halloween sprinkle mix I had in the pantry. I didn't want to go to the store, so I used what I could find. That's the fun part about making sugar cookies, there are so many fun ways to customize them.
Use a small round frosting tip to pipe white frosting to attach the facial details. Or use black frosting for the eyes and orange frosting for the nose.
Add a scarf using the same size frosting tip.
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.
Chubby Snowman Sugar Cookies Recipe
(Printable version. There is an option to print the recipe without the photos)
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.
Notes
Nutrition
MORE CHRISTMAS RECIPES TO TRY
24 Christmas Cookie Recipes (sugar cookies, gingerbread, hot cocoa cookies and more!)
24 Holiday Treat Recipes (toffee, peppermint bark, scotcheroos, and more!)
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