Stacked snowman sugar cookies are fun to make! Round sugar cookies frosted and stacked with eyes, a carrot nose, a mouth, and buttons!
You might also like our Christmas sugar cookies (with tips and tricks for decorating), our gingerbread cookie boxes, or our bakery style sugar cookies.
If you're looking for a fun baking activity to do with the kids this holiday season, these stacked snowman sugar cookies totally fit the bill.
Why I Like This Recipe
- Best sugar cookie recipe. Snowman cookies start out with a sugar cookie base. You can use whatever kind of sugar cookie dough you want, but my no-chill sugar cookie recipe is pretty darn good and my most popular recipe this time of year. The cookies are bakery-style soft and loaded with vanilla and almond extract flavoring.
- Easy to decorate. You don't need any decorating skills. If you can spread frosting with a butter knife, you can make these cookies.
- Fun to customize. Once baked and cooled, the cookies are frosted, stacked, and then decorated! I used snowman sprinkles to make decorating easy, but frosting and piping bags work well too. Use your creativity!
What Others Are Saying
The cookies were easy to make. We used mini chocolate chips for eyes. Thank you---Doreen on Facebook
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Tips and Tricks
- Use nesting cookie cutters or biscuit cutters. These are the round cookie cutters (biscuit cutters) that I used. They are a great versatile set that can be used to make 3-ingredient biscuits too.
- Tip for snowman eyes and buttons. The black eyes and buttons that came with my snowman sprinkle kit will stay fresh for 2-3 days before the color starts to run a bit. So just be aware of that. Here are some black sugar pearls that don’t bleed. You can also use back frosting or mini chocolate chips, but these sprinkles are easier for kids.
- Storage tip. These will stay fresh for about 3 days, but you can freeze them (frosted or unfrosted) for months.
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- Butter and Shortening: I use a combination of butter and shortening for the best texture and flavor. If you don't want to use shortening you can use all butter, but I highly recommend trying the recipe as written first.
- Sugar: There are only two types of cookies that I don't use a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar for: sugar cookies and snickerdoodles. White sugar is best for sugar cookies. It gives them great flavor and texture.
- Egg: For richness and texture.
- Vanilla Extract and Almond Extract: Extracts are where you can get creative when making cookies. Vanilla and almond are my favorites to use and are a wonderful flavor combination.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is a great option for baking cookies.
- Cornstarch: This recipe requires a substantial amount of cornstarch. Trust me, it makes a soft and tender cookie.
- Baking powder: Baking powder gives sugar cookies life and a light texture.
Easy Buttercream Frosting
My favorite buttercream frosting holds sprinkles well and sets up enough to prevent smudging.
- Butter: For the best flavor and texture, always use butter in your frosting.
- Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar gives the frosting a fluffy and smooth texture.
- Milk or Heavy Cream: A bit of milk or cream helps thin the frosting out to a spreadable consistency.
- Vanilla: For flavoring.
Sprinkles
- Snowman eyes, nose, and buttons sprinkles
- Chocolate sprinkles for mouth (or use more black sugar ball sprinkles)
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Snowman Sugar Cookies
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer*), combine butter, shortening, and sugar. Beat until fluffy.
Step 2: Turn the electric mixer to a low speed and add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Add baking powder. Stir in the flour and cornstarch, and mix until a soft dough forms.
Step 3: Lightly flour your working surface and shape dough into a large ball.
Step 4: Roll the dough out to the desired thickness using a rolling pin (I usually do ¼- ⅜") and cut into shapes. For reference, I used a 3", 2", and 1 ¼" cutter.Add flour to the dough if it feels too sticky, but a nice, soft dough is what you want.
Step 5: Carefully transfer the cut-out cookie shapes with a spatula to a baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes. Cookies will be soft. Let sit on a baking sheet for 5 minutes before carefully moving to a cooling rack.
Step 6: Beat frosting ingredients together. Spread over cooled cookies.
Step 7: Stack a large, medium, and small frosted cookie on top of eachother to create a snowman. Add candy and sprinkles for eyes, nose, mouth, and buttons.
Store cookies at room temperature, and cover the baking sheet in plastic (once the frosting is set up a bit) to keep cookies fresh.
Snowman Cookies FAQs
Corn starch softens the dough making it feel like a cloud. It also makes for a softer sugar cookie.
Shortening gives the cookies a soft texture and helps them retain their shape during the baking process. Butter gives the cookies a delicious flavor and a rich texture.
Some recipes call for refrigeration, but this one doesn’t because it uses a small amount of shortening, which helps the cookies keep their shape. If you’d like to prepare it ahead of time, you can wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and use it later. However, this is a great last-minute recipe because refrigeration is not necessary.
These will stay fresh for about 3 days, but you can freeze them (frosted or unfrosted) for months.
More Holiday Cookies To Make
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Stacked Snowman Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Dough
- 1 cup butter softened
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon almond extract
- 4 cup flour
- ½ cup corn starch
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
Frosting
- ½ cup butter softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 Tbsp. milk
Instructions
Cookies
- In a large mixing bowl combine butter, shortening and sugar. Beat until fluffy. Turn mixer down and add egg, vanilla and almond extract. Add baking powder. Add flour* and cornstarch and mix thoroughly. *Start with 3 ½ cups of flour, and if the dough seems too soft add the last ½ cup of flour.
- Lightly flour your working surface and shape dough into a large ball.
- No refrigeration necessary.
- Roll dough out to desired thickness using a rolling pin (I usually do ¼- ⅜″) and cut out with round cookie cutters in 3 sizes. Carefully transfer cut out cookie shapes with a spatula to a baking sheet.
- Bake on baking sheets at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cookies will be soft. Let sit on baking sheet for 5 minutes before carefully moving to a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream Frosting
- Whisk frosting ingredients and spread over cookies. Stack a large, medium and small cookie on top of eachother to create a snowman.
- Add candy and sprinkles for eyes, nose, mouth, and buttons.
Brittany says
Hi! Should we use salted or unsalted butter for both the cookies and frosting?
Brandy says
I use salted butter for everything. 🙂