Snowflake Filled Snowman Cookies

Build your own sweet snowmen in the warmth of your kitchen. These Snowflake Filled Snowman Cookies are made by stacking three cookies together. Each snowman has a clear candy belly so you can see the candy snowflakes inside.  

I sent some snow in the form of these sweet Snowflake Filled Snowman Cookies to Los Angeles last week. Do you suppose anyone there felt a chill in the air when these little guys arrived?

To actually send snow would have been tricky, so I had to get creative and didn't have to look further than my sprinkle drawer. Don't laugh, but I actually have 5 sprinkle drawers. I often find inspiration there.

As I picked up a jar of Wilton Snowflake Sprinkles I was having fun watching the little candies swirl around the jar as I shook it. I visualized all the fun things you can do in the snow and being my favorite snow day activity is to build a snowman, I decided that's what I should do...build some snowmen using the snowflake sprinkles.

My first thought was to make a piñata style cookie with the snowflake sprinkles hiding inside the cookie, like my Christmas Minion Piñata Cookies, Apple Piñata Cookies, Sombrero Piñata Cookies, Ladies Hat Piñata Cookies Cookies, or Sunshine Piñata Cookies  but I thought it would be more fun to actually see the snowflake sprinkles in the snowman's belly.

To fill my snowmen cookies with snowflakes, I made pinata-style cookies, but added a fun twist. This time instead of hiding my candies inside the cookies, covered by a top cookie, I created a see-through candy window so the snowflakes appear as though they are in the snowman's belly.

The top cookies are made just like stained glass cookies where you melt candy in a hole inside a flat cookie.

To make the clear candy glass window in these snowmen cookies you can use Isomalt, as I did when I made my Googly Eyed Cookies you can make your own clear hard candy, or you can crush and melt clear mint candies.

What is isomalt?

• Isomalt is a sugar substitute that is often used to create sugar decorations because it melts easily and it resists crystallization much better than the boiled sugar. It's available in sticks and tiny crystals.
• It is a sugar-free product that doesn't promote tooth decay, has little or no impact on blood sugar, and won't stimulate the release of insulin, however, if does often bring about gastrointestinal problems.
• You can sprinkle the isomalt crystals into the hole in these cookies and they will come out nice and clear.

Use Crystal Clean Mints instead.

• When making these cookies I opted to use Arcor's Crystal Mints. They have a really nice mint flavor and can easily be crushed and melted in these snowman cookies.
• The candy glass window made using these mints won't be quite as clear as if you use isomalt, but you can definitely see the snowflakes through the candy window and they taste better.

Snowflake Filled Snowman Cookies Video

Watch the video tutorial to see how these are made then scroll down through the pictures and instructions below to see the step-by-step photo tutorial.

How to make Snowflake filled Snowman Cookies

Supplies Needed to make these Snowman Cookies:

• Snowman Cookie Cutter
  • I used a Wilton snowman cookie cutter, but unfortunately, it's no longer available. You can use any snowman cutter you like just as long as it's large enough to cut a circle out of its belly.
• round cookie cutter that fits so that you get about ¼-inch wall around the hole in the bottom of the snowman
  • I used a 1 ½-inch round cutter.
• food processor, meat mallet, or the back of  a heavy pan to crush the candies
• parchment paper
• baking sheets

1. Cut out snowman cookies from sugar cookie dough.

• Make the cookie dough according to the recipe below.
• Roll dough out to 3/16th inch thickness.
• Cut out 28 snowmen, re-rolling dough as needed.

Tip for helping cut-out cookies keep their shape:

• Roll out the dough on a silicone baking mat, then remove the excess dough, and freeze the cut-out cookies on the mat for about 5 minutes until they become firm.
• Peel the cookies off the mat and set them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
• Your cookies will look like perfectly shaped snowmen if you do this.
• You can also roll the dough out on the parchment paper and do the same. It's a little more challenging because the paper will want to wrinkle. You can tape the edge down to your counter to help with that.

2. Cut holes for the candy window.

• Use the round cookie cutter to cut the bellies out of those 28 snowmen cookies.
• Re-roll the remaining dough and cut out 14 more snowmen. Do not cut the bellies out of those cookies.
• Refrigerate cookies for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Crush clear candies.

• Meanwhile, unwrap the mints and crush them into fine crumbs.
  • I used my food processor, but you can put them in a heavy-duty zip-top bag and whack them with a meat mallet or the back of a heavy pan.
  • You want to crush these to almost a powder so a food processor will be the easiest choice.

4. Bake the cookies and fill the bellies with candy.

• Pop one pan of cookies in the oven for 10 minutes.
• Remove and immediately sprinkle crushed mints into the holes in each cookie, filling each about ¾ full.
• Put the snowman cookies back in the oven for about 3 minutes.
  • Keep an eye on the cookies. You just want the candy to melt.
  • If left in the oven too long, the candy will bubble and then your candy windows will be full of bubbles.
  • If needed, rotate the pan midway through this cycle so that the candy evenly melts in all the cookies.
• You'll want to fill 14 of your cookies with the mints and leave 14 with holes.

5. Bake.

• Allow the cookies to cool completely before removing them from the baking sheet.
• Bake the remaining cookies for 11-13 minutes.
  • You don't want them to brown, but they should look set.

6. Decorate snowman cookies.

• Heat the Bright White Candy Melts on high in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, 30 seconds, stir, then 15-second increments, stirring after each until melted.
• Pour candy melts into a squeeze bottle with a small opening. I use a Squeezit Mold painter which comes with pastry tips and I use a round tip with a small opening (a #3 pastry tip.)
• Pipe white chocolate over the head of a snowman cookie with a candy belly. Immediately add two black pearl eyes and one orange candy-coated sunflower seed nose.

• Next, pipe on the middle snowball, adding 3 black pearls.
  • If you don't want to use sugar pearls you can pipe the black dots on using either black candy melts or dark cocoa candy melts.

• Then pipe a thick line around the bottom snowball.
• NOTE: For shiny cookies, decorate one cookie at a time, then pop it in the freezer for 3-5 minutes.

7. Assemble the cookies and fill with snowflake sprinkles.

• Pipe some white candy melts on the backside of a cookie with a hole in it. Set it on top of a solid cookie. Sprinkle snowflakes in the hole.
• Pipe some candy melts on the backside of a cookie with the candy belly, Set it over the snowflake filled cookie.
• Allow the cookies to dry for 10 minutes before moving.

How to store these cookies.

• Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
  • Metal cookie tins keep your cookies freshest longest, about 2 weeks.
  • Rubbermaid or Tupperware will work well too and should last a little over a week.
  • If you store the cookies in zip-top bags, they will keep for 5-7 days.

If you prefer, you can decorate your cookies using royal icing. I just like working with candy melts or chocolate better.

Items used to make this project are available on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales).

I found my Wilton Two Piece Snowman Cutter at Kroger this year (2014) but couldn't find them on Amazon, so I added a link to a similar cutter. The original plastic cutter came with a top hat attached to the snowman. Any snowman cutter should work for this project.

I also added a link to some cute snowman cookie boxes that would be perfect for these cookies.

Printable Recipe

5 from 5 votes

Print

Snowflake Filled Snowman Cookies

Prep Time

1 hr

Cook Time

12 mins

Total Time

1 hr 12 mins

 

Three layer snowman cookie with clear candy belly allows the candy snowflakes to show through.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Christmas

Keyword: pinata cookies, snowman cookies

Servings: 14

Author: Beth Jackson Klosterboer

Ingredients

Cookie Dough-

• 4 - 4 ¼ cups all purpose flour; I start with 4 cups, then add more if needed
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened slightly
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¾ teaspoon almond or peppermint extract

Candy Window, Snowflakes and Decorations-

• 15-20 clear mint candies; I used Arcor candies, crushed to a fine powder
• 1 bag Wilton Bright White Candy Melts
• 14 orange candy-coated sunflower seeds
• 70 black sugar pearls
• 1 jar Wilton Snowflake Sprinkles

Instructions

1. Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl.

2. Set aside.

3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Stir in eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.

5. Add dry ingredients and stir just until it's mixed in.

6. Roll out dough to 3/16 of an inch. Cut 28 snowman cookies.

7. Cut circles out of 14 of those cookies.

8. Roll remaining dough out to 1/16 of an inch thickness.

9. Cut out 14 more snowmen.

10. Freeze cookies for 30 minutes until firm.

11. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

12. Set chilled cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

13. Bake the whole cookies and 14 of the cookies with holes for 11-14 minutes until set.

14. Bake the remaining trays of 14 cookies with holes for 10 minutes.
15. Remove and spoon in the crushed candy filling the hole ¾'s full.
16. Return to oven and melt for about 3 minutes.
17. Allow all cookies to cool completely.
18. Decorate the candy belly cookies using white candy melts, sunflower seeds, and black sugar pearls.
19. Freeze for a few minutes until the candy melts harden.

20. Attach one cookie with a hole to a whole cookie using candy melts.

21. Fill the hole with candy sprinkles.

22. Attach a decorated snowman cookie on top using candy melts.

23. Let dry.
24. Repeat.

This post was originally published on December 16, 2014.

You can package each snowman cookie in its own clear cellophane bag then snuggle them down into a festive box or tin to give as Christmas gifts.

This is how my snowmen traveled to Los Angeles.

Be sure to check out all my fun Christmas Recipes and all these fun 3-D Pinata Style Cookies...

3-D Cookie Googly Eyes

 Mason Jar Cookies with Candy Glass

Christmas Present Cookies filled with candy 

Surprise Inside Christmas Gift Cookies

Apple Pinata Cookies

Sombrero Pinata Cookies 

3D Candy Filled Graduation Cap Cookies

Basketball Pinata Cookies

• Author
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Beth

Hi, I'm Beth Jackson Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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