It’s that time of year again. Time to plan out whose house it hosting the holiday gathering, who is bring what dish the family table and what cookies to bake for family and friends this year.
I LOVE HOMEMADE COOKIES! Well, to be honest, I love cookies in general.
It’s on my “Bucket List” to attend a cookie swap. The sad thing is that my friends mostly all life upstate AND I can’t really bake. I’m a decent cook but baking is something I haven’t mastered yet. I wish I was a talented baker.
The other day I was at the grocery store picking up a couple of things when I saw the December issue of Women’s Day on display (pictured above). My eyes were instantly drawn to the adorable snowman cupcake predominantly featured on the front cover. How cute!
I thought to myself that the snowman cupcake would make an adorable treat for a holiday get together. I think it would be fun to put them all on a large tray and sprinkle shredded coconut around them to make it resemble snowmen in the yards. Maybe even adorn the tray with other holiday themed candies. It would make for an adorable centerpiece AND dessert all in one.
Our friends at Women’s Day magazine were kind enough to provide the recipe for these darling snowman so you can make them yourselves. They also provided other adorable cookie recipes.
Get ready for the most delicious time of year – the December issue of Woman’s Day magazine features 25 festive sweets that the whole family is sure to enjoy. Go ahead, indulge! Featuring goodies like merry snowman cupcakes, cheerful Oreo penguins and decorative elf cookies, these confections will spread the holiday joy among everyone on your list.
Snowman Cupcakes:
- Total time – 2 hours and 10 minutes
- Make 8 snowmen
- Cost per snowman – .41 cents
Instructions
- Make 1 batch basic gingerbread cupcakes (see below) as directed.
- Line 8 holes of the muffin pan with red paper liners and lightly coat the remaining holes with cooking spray.
- Make 1 batch vanilla buttercream (see below) as directed.
- When the baked cupcakes have cooled completely, in a food processor, pulse the 4 unwrapped cupcakes into fine crumbs.
- In a bowl, mix together the crumbs and 6 Tbsp buttercream, then roll into 8 balls (1. in. each; about 1. Tbsp).
- Frost the remaining cupcakes with buttercream (about 2 Tbsp each) and coat with finely shredded coconut (about 1 tsp each).
- Use toothpicks to secure the cake balls to the cupcakes, then frost each ball with ½ Tbsp buttercream and coat with finely shredded coconut (about 1 tsp each).
- Decorate using mini chocolate chips for eyes and buttons, orange Tic Tacs for noses, sour candy strips for scarves and melted chocolate for the mouth.
- Make hats using chocolate jelly rings, buttercream and mini chocolate chips.
Gingerbread Cupcake:
- Total time – 1 hour and 10 minutes
- Makes 12 cupcakes
- Cost per cupcake – .36 cents
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F.
- Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 1½ cups all-purpose flour, 1½ tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp ground nutmeg and ¼ tsp kosher salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the ½ cup vegetable oil, ½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar, 2 large eggs, ¼ cup unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap), ¼ cup water and ½ tsp pure vanilla extract.
- Add the flour mixture to the oil mixture and mix until fully incorporated (the batter will be thin).
- Divide the batter among the lined muffin cups (about 3 Tbsp each) and bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Vanilla Buttercream:
- Total time – 10 minutes
- Make 3 1/4 cups
- Cost $4.15
Instructions
- Sift 1 lb confectioners’ sugar into a large bowl.
- Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Reduce the mixer to low and gradually add the sugar, alternating with the 2 Tbsp heavy cream.
- Mix in 2 tsp pure vanilla extract.
- Increase the speed to high and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Oreo Penguins:
- Total time – 1 hour
- Makes 12 cookies
- Cost per cookie – .12 cents
Instructions
- Separate 12 standard Oreos.
- Press ½ tsp shredded coconut onto each cream piece (discard plain pieces).
- Separate 12 mini Oreos; scrape off and discard the cream.
- Cut 12 of the mini pieces in half.
- Using royal icing (see below), stick candy eyes and the cut side of half a banana Runt on one mini piece (for the face).
- Attach 2 half pieces to the body (for the wings).
- Stick the cut sides of 2 banana Runt halves into the cream for the feet.
- Repeat to create 12 penguins.
Royal Icing:
- Total time – 12 minutes
- Makes 2 cups
- Cost – $1.40
Instructions
- Using an electric mixer, beat 3 large egg whites and ½ tsp cream of tartar on medium-high speed until foamy, about 1 minute.
- Reduce the speed to low and gradually add 1 lb confectioners’ sugar, beating until just incorporated.
- Increase the speed to high and beat until medium-stiff glossy peaks form, 5 to 7 minutes.
Elf Cookies:
- Total Time – 2 hours
- Cost per cookie – .26 cents
Instructions
- Make 1 batch royal icing (see above) as directed and tint using gel food color as desired.
- Transfer 1/3 of each color to a separate pastry bag fitted with a fine tip.
- Use a few drops of water to thing the icing remaining in the bowls; place in separate pastry bags fitted with small round tips.
- Using the thicker icing, outline the hats, clothes, beards and faces of the elves on 24 Nutter Butter cookies.
- Fill the hats and clothes using the thinner icing.
- Let dry between colors.
- Use finely shredded coconut for Santa’s beard (while icing is wet) and use icing to attach sliced almonds for the elves’ ears.
These are adorable! Whether you are a talented baker or someone like me who is not a great baker but could certainly decorate some cookies with icing, these recipes are a “must have” for your holiday cookbooks.
Look for the December issue of Women’s Day where ever magazines are sold. You can also visit WomensDay.com to subscribe or to learn more about the publication. The magazine is also found on all the social media sites (the links are found on their home page).
Kimberly
*I was not compensated for this post. I posted these recipes and photos with permission for the enjoyment of my site readers. Any opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Maralea says
Oh my gosh…you can’t get any cuter than this! I am going to give a couple of these a try! Those elf cookies are adorable!
Janet W. says
These are the cutest treats! I especially love the Oreo Penguins. I’d love to eat these but I don’t know that I’d like to put the time in to make them, lol!
Sonya Morris says
So cute!! We made Santa from Nutter Butters for a bake sale and they were one of the first to sell out. They are super easy to make once you get a system down and the best part of all was there was no baking on my part!!