Snowflake Cookies

The cookies are made with my no spread sugar cookie recipe that holds its shape so perfectly after baking. I used the same snowflake cookie cutter to cut the rolled dough and to also cut the fondant. See how the fondant fits perfectly on the cookies (in the image above), and this is how well the cookie dough hold its shape and does not spread after baking.

The design on the cookies is embossed with a cookie press mat. The embossed lines are then painted with edible gold paint and decorated with gold dragees.

If you don't have an embossing mat, you can always paint the cookies free hand or use a snowflake cookie press to decorate.

If you like these cookies, you should also try out my Christmas wreath cookies, Christmas tree cupcakes, reindeer cupcakes and easy Christmas cake decorating idea. They make equally cute and pretty treats for Christmas.

📋Ingredients

For the Cookies:

• All purpose flour (plain flour) - sift before using.
• Granulated sugar (caster sugar) - avoid using coarse sugar as it will leave sugar marks on your cookies after baking.
• Butter (salted) - I use salted butter but if you are using unsalted butter, add ⅛ teaspoon of fine salt to flour and sift them together.
• Egg - use large egg.
• Vanilla extract - adds a lovely flavor and aroma to the cookies.

For the Decoration:

• Fondant & Americolor food color in Silver Spruce - I used Satin Ice in white and tinted some of it with Americolor Silver Spruce for the blue snowflakes and used the non tinted white fondant for the white snowflakes. You can use any other blue food coloring you like. You can also make your own fondant with this marshmallow fondant recipe or homemade fondant recipe.
• Edible gold dust + lemon extract - these are mixed to form the thick gold paint.
• Gold dragees - I used gold dragees in 2 sizes; a slightly larger ones for the cookie centers and smaller dragees all around it.
• Fondant glue - I used this to stick the fondant cutouts onto the cookies as well as to stick the gold dragees to the cookies. 

Tools & Other Supplies:

• Snowflake cookie cutter & embossing mat - I used metal snowflake cookie cutters (6 inches in diameter) and embossing texture set by Autumn Carpenter. This set comes with a number of snowflake cookie cutters in various sizes along with a matching embossing mat for a variety of snowflake shapes.
• Fine tipped cake decorating brush - A fine-tipped brush will help you achieve fine painting on the cookies, so it is important to use a food-grade, fine-tipped brush for the painting work.

*Refer to the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and exact quantities. For best results, use a digital kitchen scale where applicable*

👩🏻‍🍳How to Make

Step 1: Mix the Cookie Dough

Preheat oven to 170°Celsius. Line baking tray with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar. Use a large bowl (image 1) and medium speed on an electric mixer until the mixture turns light and creamy. Do not over mix. Add the egg (image 2) and vanilla extract. Beat until the egg is well incorporated before adding the vanilla. Mix well.

Add the flour. Mix on low speed until the dough comes together (image 3). Place the dough in a covered bowl (or wrap it in plastic wrap) and refrigerate until it is firm (but not too hard) for approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Note: Do not leave the dough too long in the fridge as it will be too hard to roll. If that happens, leave the dough at room temperature until it softens to a rolling consistency.

Step 2: Roll and Cut the Cookies

Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and place it between parchment paper or plastic sheets. Use dowel rods on either side of the dough as a guide for the thickness of your cookies (image 4).

Note: If not using the parchment or plastic sheets, roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to avoid the dough from sticking.

Cut and refrigerate the snowflake cookies. Use a medium sized snowflake cookie cutter (6 inches in diameter) and place the cut outs on the prepared tray (image 5). Refrigerate until they are firm.

Step 3: Bake the Cookies

Remove the cookies from the fridge and place them in the preheated oven. Bake for about 12 minutes until they turn golden brown on the sides (image 6). Remove cookies from the oven and cool them on a wire rack to room temperature. Keep cookies in an airtight container until ready to decorate.

Note: The cookies can also be baked a few days in advance before decorating.

Step 4: Cut the Fondant Snowflakes

To make the snowflakes, divide white fondant into 2. Tint the first part with Americolor Silver Spruce or blue gel food coloring. Leave the other part white.  

Note: You can decorate all the blue snowflake cookies first and then decorate white ones. Since the decorating method is the same for both colors, this tutorial shows the step for the blue ones, and you just need to replicate the same steps to make the white snowflake cookies.

Roll and emboss the fondant. Begin by rolling the blue fondant to about one tenth of an inch thick (image 7). Make sure you dust it well with either powdered sugar (icing sugar) or cornstarch (I used cornstarch) to prevent it from sticking to your work space.

Dust the embossing mat generously with cornstarch or powdered sugar, with the raised pattern on the mat facing down (image 8). You can make your own dusting pouch for fondant with my easy tutorial here.

Turn the mat over onto the rolled fondant and gently but firmly press the pattern on the mat onto it (images 9 and 10).

Note: Press the pattern gently with your fingers or using the end of a small rolling pin.

Lift the mat up and you will see the snowflake pattern embossed beautifully on the fondant (image 11).

Using the same cookie-cutter used to cut the snowflake sugar cookie dough, cut out the rolled fondant into snowflake shape, making sure the embossed pattern is well centered within the cookie cutter (image 12).

Step 5: Attach the Cut Out Fondant to the Cookies

Brush the baked snowflake cookies very lightly with glue (image 13) before attaching the fondant (image 14). Start with the pointy ends on one side of the cookie before moving slowly to the center and other parts of the snowflake. Adjust the ends of the snowflake so that they are all well aligned with the cookie underneath.

Once the fondant is attached to the cookie, use a large soft brush to very gently brush off excess dusting flour on the fondant (image 15).

Step 6: Decorate the Fondant Snowflakes

Mix the edible gold dust with some lemon extract to turn it into gold paint (start with a few drops of extract at a time so that the paint does not become too diluted).

Use a fine-tipped brush (food grade) to paint the embossed snowflake pattern on the fondant (image 16). 

Attach the dragees. Use a larger dragee at the center of each cookie and the smaller ones on the sides. Attach these with a light brush of fondant glue to make sure they stick securely to the fondant (images 17 and 18). 

Repeat the process for all the snowflake cookies, including the white ones.