Coconut Snowman Cookies

Snowman Cookies are as cute as they are delicious! A buttery cookie, topped with buttercream frosting, and coconut…perfect for chilly days and a cup of hot chocolate!

COOKIE FRIENDS!!! So you know I had to include an adorable cookie in our 12 Days of Christmas Cookie adventure. I am not much of a cookie decorator anymore, but these simple cookies, I can totally handle. If you’ve missed the first 6 days of our cookie bonanza, scroll down to the bottom of this post to catch up!

Anyhow, like I said, I am not much of a cookie decorator. Here’s the thing…I used to love it. I made sugar cookies ALL THE TIME. FOR FUN. Who even WAS I?

I had piping tips, and piping bags, and couplers, and cookie cutters, and boxes of meringue powder in bulk. Then one day…I just stopped. And quite honestly, I don’t miss it at all. I totally liked the decorating part…but the prep and clean up was not my favorite. My fingers were perpetually stained with food coloring…I always had royal icing in my hair….and did I mention the piping tips? Bane.Of.My.Existence.

MY OTHER RECIPES

I give major high fives to those out there who can decorate cookies, because not only is it an art, it’s an exercise in patience. Which brings me today. While I love me a cute cookie, I also love me an easy cookie, and these little snowmen fit the bill!

Coconut Snowman Cookies

The cookie is a delicious, buttery, sugar cookie…that you can actually use as a cut out recipe with other shapes if you’re looking for a great cookie recipe. I used a little coconut extract in it to amp up the coconut flavor, but you can certainly use vanilla. Also, if you use this recipe for intricate shaped cutters, I do recommend chilling the dough. For the snowmen, you can skip it, because they’re only circles.

Once the cookies are baked and cooled spread on a nice layer of frosting…

Coconut Snowman Cookies

And then simply dip the frosted cookie into some flaked coconut…

Coconut Snowman Cookies

The decorating is easy…just some chocolate chips and I used some orange colored fondant for the nose. You could also use orange taffy or even orange Starburst, as they would be easy to form into nose shapes. ORRR if you don’t want to get involved in any of that, pop an orange M&M on there and call it a day!

Coconut Snowman Cookies

Seriously these are precious and will certainly bring the smiles!

Author: Shelly
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 12 large cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon coconut extract (or vanilla)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups flour

Frosting

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk

Decorations

1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup fondant, colored orange

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and the coconut (or vanilla) extract and continue mixing until combined and smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Turn the mixer speed to low and add the baking powder, salt, and flour, mixing until the dough comes together.
Divide the dough in half and on a floured work surface, roll the dough to 1/3- inch thick Using a large round cookie cutter (3- inches in diameter) cut out the dough and place the circles onto the prepared baking sheet 1 1/2 inches apart. Re-roll the leftover dough and repeat the process, using all the dough.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy. Turn mixer to low and add in powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk. Mix for 1-2 minutes until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add in the additional tablespoon of milk if a creamier frosting is desired.

Decorating

Spread frosting on top of each cookie.
Pour the coconut onto a plate and dip each cookie into the coconut, pressing to make sure the coconut sticks to the frosting.
Press 2 chocolate chips into the frosting to make eyes, and press 5 mini chips into the frosting to create the mouth.
Form the fondant into 1/2- inch cones to use as noses and press the nose into the frosting.