Friends and family have been coming to me for advice on Christmas cooking this week, as they prepare to surprise and satisfy their entire bank of desks at work.

Since I love baking and simply ADORE Christmas, I have, of course, got plenty of ideas up my sleeve to share. I must confess, much of my inspiration this year has come from Pinterest and these little snowy chaps seem to be popping up quite a bit, so I couldn’t resist giving them a go.

It seems that you can choose virtually any type of biscuit recipe for the base, but I opted for a basic shortbread. A simple classic, allowing for the focus and detail to go into the decorating!

Ingredients (Makes 10)

• 125g/4oz butter
• 55g/2oz caster sugar
• 180g/6oz plain flour
• 125g/4oz icing sugar
• 10 white marshmallows
• Coloured icing pens – available in most supermarkets
• Edible decoration balls – available in most supermarkets

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190C / 375F / Gas 5.
2. Beat the butter and caster sugar together until smooth.
3. Stir in the flour to get a smooth paste.
4. Turn on to a work surface and gently roll out until the biscuit dough is 1cm thick.
5. Cut into circles or use a cookie cutter that’s about 10cm in diameter.
6. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until pale golden-brown.
7. Set aside to cool on a wire rack.
8. Whilst the biscuits are cooling, add a few drops of warm water to your icing sugar. Stir it together, adding just 1 drop of water at a time until it is runny, but doesn’t run off your spoon when you hold it above the bowl.
9. Once the biscuits are cooled, spoon the icing sugar over the biscuits. It doesn’t have to be perfectly neat – snowmen don’t always melt evenly, in my experience.
10. Now just pop the marshmallows on top and decorate with eyes, mouth, buttons and twig-like arms.
    1. I also found some little edible golden balls, which I stuck on for his nose. He seemed to approve.

They are a great winter bake for all ages and add a charming little touch to a festive spread. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

 

 

Merry Christmas

Bonnie@BrandAlley x