RECIPE

Milkybar® Shortbread Snowmen

Name: Milkybar® Shortbread Snowmen
Prep time: 1 h
Yield: 16
Ingredients: A baking tray; Baking paper; A rolling pin; A 2.5-inch cookie cutter; 180g light buttery spread; 80g caster sugar; 255g plain flour; 160g Milkybar® Giant Buttons; 20 orange Smarties®; Black gel icing tube

If you’re looking for the cutest and tastiest way to spread a little festive cheer this holiday season, try our Christmas shortbread snowman recipe.

14 March, 2025

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Just look at our little snowmen Christmas shortbread cookies! They’re crumbly, buttery and almost too cute to eat, well, almost… With a creamy Milkybar® coating and a bright Smarties® nose, these cookies are not only fun to make and enjoy with the kids, but they’re also a fantastic last-minute gift idea. Just pop a few in a clear cellophane bag (we like compostable ones), tie with a red ribbon, add a festive sticker and you’re good to go and say ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas!

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How to Decorate Your Christmas Shortbread Snowmen

Consider our cute Christmas shortbread snowmen a blank canvas for your decorating creativity in the same way that our Milkybar® Snowman Cake is open to interpretation! We’ve gone simple with two eyes and a nose, but you could add a smile, a smirk or a toothy grin. Get creative with your eye design choice or add some eyebrows and bring your festive fellow to life. Gel icing pens come in a range of colours and let’s not forget the cheerful sparkle of edible glitter. Get the kids involved and turn your bake day into an arts and crafts cookie extravaganza! You could even double up on the Christmas spirit and bake a batch of our Milkybar® Christmas biscuits. Or why not bag up a few different edible Christmas treats, such as pumpkin spice flapjacks and cookies and cream fudge, and make selection boxes for the grown-ups in the family?

Storage Instructions

Tuck your Christmas shortbread snowmen into an airtight container and keep them at room temperature for up to a week.

Shortbread Variations

Like any great shortbread recipe, ours is endlessly versatile when it comes to flavour. For a citrus punch, add the zest of an orange, lemon or mandarin. For a spicy kick, go for mixed spice, allspice or a cinnamon and clove combo – just a pinch will do! For a classic pairing with the white chocolate, add a sprinkle of freeze-dried raspberries to your shortbread dough before you roll it out.

Too early for Christmas? For another easy-to-make roll-out cookie, try our Milkybar® Ghost Cookies!

You will need:

A baking tray
Baking paper
A rolling pin
A 2.5-inch cookie cutter

Ingredients

180g light buttery spread
80g caster sugar
255g plain flour
160g Milkybar® Giant Buttons

For decoration

20 orange Smarties®
Black gel icing tube

Milkybar Giant Buttons White Chocolate Sharing Bag 176g

Each biscuit contains:

Energy 637kJ 152kcal 8%
Fat 9.3g 13%
Saturates 3.8g 19%
Sugars 9.5g 11%
Salt 0.15g 3%

of an adult’s Reference Intake (RI)*
Energy per 100g: 1901kJ/453kcal

*Reference Intake of an average adult (8400kJ/2000kcal).
Portions should be adjusted for children of different ages.

Recipe

Heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas mark 5.
Beat the light buttery spread and the sugar together until smooth. Stir in the flour and use your clean hands to bring the dough together.
Gently roll it out until the paste is 1cm/½ in thick. Cut into rounds using a 2.5-inch cutter and place onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Prick lightly with a fork and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. Let the cookies cool on the tray for 10 minutes to harden slightly, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Pop the Milkybar®Giant Buttons into a microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave in 30-second bursts. Mix between bursts until it is smooth.
Carefully dip the top of the cooled biscuits into the melted chocolate.
Once the white chocolate has dried, use the black writing icing to draw two small circles for eyes and one circle to hold the nose in place. Add one orange Smarties® to the centre of the face and wait for it to set.
Share and enjoy!

Top Tips

Shortbread is best when it's snappy and crumbly with a melt-in-the-mouth texture. The secret to achieving the right consistency is not to overhandle the dough. Mix it just enough until there is no dry flour and the dough starts to come together. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and bring it together into a ball before rolling. Don’t be tempted to knead the dough aggressively, or you’ll start to develop gluten, which will lead to dense and chewy shortbread.