Melted Snowman Shortbread Biscuits

Name: Melted Snowman Shortbread Biscuits
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 200 g Butter, softened; 100 g Caster sugar; 1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract; 280 g Plain flour; 1 Pinch Salt; 400 g Icing sugar; 4-5 Tablespoons Cold water; Black food colouring ((or black writing icing)); Orange food colouring ((or orange writing icing)); 8 Large white marshmallows, cut in half; 30 Mini M&Ms ((or any other colourful sweets))

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These melted snowman shortbread biscuits make a great Christmas treat that's sure to be a hit with both kids and adults. With their crunchy, buttery base and marshmallow 'snowman' topping, they're as tasty as they are cute!

melted snowmen shortbread biscuits on a white surface

If you're looking for a fun, festive recipe to make with kids this festive season, these melted snowman shortbread biscuits are just the thing! They're buttery, crunchy and perfectly sweet, and they'd make a great addition to any Christmas cookie exchange, bake sale or party.

These are super easy to make and suitable for beginners, thanks to the straight-forward method and simple ingredients list. And don't worry if your decorating skills aren't the best- the 'melted' aspect means they're meant to look a bit messy!

Ready to get baking? Grab your ingredients and let me show you how to make these adorable Christmas biscuits!

Ingredient Notes

Here's everything you'll need to make melted snowman biscuits...

Butter: Softened butter is key here. It's easier to mix properly and will give you a smoother dough and that classic 'melt-in-your-mouth' biscuit texture. To soften my butter, I usually leave it out at room temperature for about an hour before I start baking.
Caster sugar: Caster sugar dissolves more easily than regular granulated sugar, so use this if you can.
Vanilla extract: To add extra flavour. Shortbread can be a little bland otherwise.
Plain flour: This gives the biscuits their structure. Make sure to use plain/all-purpose flour and not self-raising flour, otherwise you'll end up with biscuits that are more on the cakey side.
Salt: This helps to enhance the other flavours and balance out the sweetness from the icing. I usually use sea salt but table salt will work fine too.
Marshmallows: These will form the 'heads' of our snowmen. I used large white marshmallows so I cut them in half but if your marshmallows are on the smaller side you can just leave them whole.
Icing sugar: We'll need this to make our icing. If you want to make the recipe easier, you can use royal icing from a tub to decorate your biscuits.
Black food colouring: To draw the snowmen's arms and faces. Gel food colouring works best as it's more concentrated. Alternatively, you can use a black writing icing pen.
Orange food colouring or sprinkles: To draw the little carrot noses on our snowmen. You can mix some of the icing with orange food colouring, use orange sprinkles or an orange writing icing pen- whatever suits you best!.
Mini M&Ms: For the snowman 'buttons'. If you can't find them, chocolate chips, Smarties or regular M&Ms will work too.

Equipment

Aside from the ingredients, you'll also need the following kitchen tools:

Large baking tray: Any size of tray will work here- you can make the biscuits in batches if your tray is small.
Baking paper: To prevent the biscuits from sticking.
Rolling pin: For rolling out the shortbread dough.
3-inch Cookie cutter: To cut out the shortbread rounds. If you don't have a cookie cutter, the rim of a glass or mug of similar size will do the job.
Piping bags: I recommend having three piping bags- one to pipe on the black icing and make the snowmen's features, one for the orange noses and another to create the white icing 'snow puddle'.
Writing piping nozzle: This will help you be more precise when piping the snowmen's features.
Utensils: A wooden spoon for mixing, and a teaspoon for measuring the vanilla extract.
Food scale: As with all my baking recipes, I recommend using a kitchen scale rather than imperial measurements to ensure accuracy.

How to make melted snowman shortbread biscuits

Step 1: In a large bowl, mix together 200g of softened butter, 100g of caster sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Step 2: Add 280g of plain flour and a small pinch of salt to the bowl and mix. When it's starting to stick together, use your hands to press it all into a ball of dough. If your dough is too soft, add more flour and if it's so crumbly that it won't hold together, add a small splash of milk.

Step 3: Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it's around ¼-inch thick. Use a 3-inch cookie cutter to cut out your biscuits, re-rolling leftover pieces until it's all used up. You should get roughly 15 biscuits from this dough.

cutting circles out of the shortbread biscuit dough

Step 4: Place the biscuits onto a lined baking tray then refrigerate for 30 minutes. This will help them to hold their shape better as they bake.

Step 5: While the biscuits are chilling, preheat your oven to 180°C (or 160°C if you're using a fan oven).

Step 6: Bake your shortbread for 15-20 minutes, until they feel firm around the edges. Don't keep baking them until they're golden brown as they'll end up overbaked after they've cooled.

Step 7: While the biscuits are cooling, prepare your icing by mixing together 400g of icing sugar and 4-5 tablespoons of cold water. You can add more water or icing sugar as needed to get the consistency you're after- I usually aim for icing that's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Step 8: Place 2 tablespoons of the icing into a separate bowl and colour it black using some food gel. Then pop it into a piping bag fitted with a small writing nozzle. We'll use this for the snowmen's features and arms.

Step 9: Cut 8 marshmallows in half to create your 'snowman heads' (or use 15 whole marshmallows if yours are small). Pipe two eyes and some dots for the mouth onto each marshmallow.

black dots piped onto marshmallow to make snowman face

Step 10: Add an orange 'carrot' nose onto each marshmallow. You can either colour 1 tablespoon of the white icing orange and pipe it or you can stick an orange cake sprinkle using a dot of icing.

Step 11: Put the rest of the icing into another piping bag with a small hole cut off the end. Pipe a 'snow puddle' onto each biscuit then top with the marshmallow heads.

adding marshmallow faces on top of the icing

Step 12: While the white icing is still wet, use the black icing to pipe two arms onto each biscuit.

Step 13: Add two mini M&Ms to each biscuit. These will act as the snowmen's 'buttons'.

Step 14: Leave your melted snowmen biscuits at room temperature until the icing has hardened then enjoy!

Top Tips

Always use butter when making melted snowman shortbread. It will give them a much better flavour and texture than margarine.
Don't skip chilling! Putting the shortbread in the fridge before baking will help them hold a perfect circle shape.
To make these biscuits extra festive, you can add a small amount of orange or peppermint extract to the icing.
Pipe the snowmen's faces onto the marshmallows before you add them to the biscuits. It's so much easier than trying to do it afterwards, as the marshmallows may slide around while you're trying to pipe.

Snowman biscuit FAQs

Can I make melted snowman biscuits ahead of time?

Absolutely! You can make the biscuits up to 5 days in advance and store them in an airtight container. I'd recommend decorating them on the day you plan to serve them, as the black icing can start to bleed into the marshmallows if you leave it for too long.

What can I use instead of mini M&Ms for the buttons?

If you can't find mini M&Ms, any small round sweets will do- chocolate chips, Smarties, or even cut larger sweets into smaller pieces. You could even pipe on little icing buttons with different colours of icing. Just make sure whatever you use contrasts well with the white 'body' of your snowman.

Can I freeze snowmen shortbread?

Yes, these melting snowman shortbread biscuits can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. To defrost the biscuits, just let them sit out on a plate or wire rack at room temperature for an hour or two.

melted snowman shortbread biscuits on a white worktop

More Christmas cookie recipes:

I hope you like my melted snowman shortbread biscuits. If you make them at home, please leave a comment and rating below to let me know what you think. Enjoy!