Starbucks Snowman Cookie Recipe

Starbucks has a long history of offering various cookies and treats along with their signature coffees.

It is always such a treat to enjoy something a little sweet with your morning or lunchtime drink.

However, many of their treats have either been discontinued or, in the case of the Snowman Cookie, it’s a seasonal promotion and isn’t available all year round.

This leaves many people wanting to enjoy this white chocolate topped delicious shortbread treat without a way of easily accessing them.

Luckily, we have the perfect Starbucks Snowman Cookie recipe so you can make these cute and delicious little treats at home for yourself, all year long!

How to make Starbucks Snowman Cookies

This Snowman sugar cookie recipe is absolutely perfect for the Christmas period, with the chocolate and peppermint finish really helping to get everyone into the Christmas spirit.

And even if it’s not Christmas, these are so quick and easy to make there’s nothing stopping you from making them anytime you want as a simple and delicious snack.

For this Starbucks Snowman Cookie recipe, you’ll just need some basic cookie ingredients, a bit of an eye for decorating your snowman, and a dash of Christmas spirit.

Ingredients:

(approx. 30 cookies)

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 5 ounces of white chocolate
• 1 cup of butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1 large egg
• Salt

For the royal icing:

• 3 ounces of pasteurized egg whites
• 1 tablespoon of peppermint extract
• 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 4 cups of confectioners’ sugar
• Gel food coloring (for decoration, ideally white for snow, black for the eyes and mouth, and if you have orange for the nose that’s a bonus!).

Optional:

• A snowman-shaped cookie cutter

Instructions:

We’ll be preparing the shortbread and the icing separately.

For the icing, we will be using vanilla and peppermint flavoring, but the volumes of these can be adjusted based on preference.

You can also get as creative as you want when decorating them, try to make them unique, and have their own personality, just like Starbucks would do during the Christmas period.

Step 1:

We’re going to start off by preparing the shortbread cookies.

Firstly, put the white chocolate into a microwavable bowl and melt it.

If you don’t have access to a microwave, you can alternatively melt them on the stove on low heat.

Step 2: 

If you have a mixer for this part it will be a whole lot easier on your arms!

Put the butter and sugar together with the melted chocolate and mix for 4-5 minutes until the ingredients have fully combined.

Step 3: 

Add the egg, vanilla extract, and remaining ingredients to the butter/sugar cookie mixture and mix them until they have formed the cookie dough.

Step 4:

Roll the cookie dough out until it’s approximately ½ inch thick and then place it in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

This helps firm up the cookie dough and makes it easier to work with.

If the rolled-out cookie dough is taking up too much room in your fridge, an alternative way is to make a ball out of the cookie dough and cover it in plastic wrap.

Then you can roll it back out to ½ inch thick after it’s been refrigerated.

Step 5:

Once the cookie dough is chilled, remove it from the freezer and cut it into cookies using a snowman mold.

Alternatively, you can use any other cookie-cutter shape or even a knife.

Step 6:

Preheat the oven to 350°F and place all the cookies on a baking tray lined with a cookie sheet or parchment paper.

This recipe makes quite a few cookies so don’t try to cram them all in, there’s nothing wrong with cooking two batches if it means you ensure there’s some space between each cookie on your tray.

Step 7:

The cookies need to be baked for 10 minutes, once finished they will need to cool completely before you can apply the icing or it will just warm the icing up and run everywhere!

While these are cooking we can start making the icing.

Step 8:

Beat the egg whites (by hand or in a mixer if you have one available) and add the peppermint and vanilla extract.

Continue to beat the egg until it’s nice and fluffy.

Step 9:

Start to add the sugar into the mixture, don’t throw it all in at once.

Just add a little and ensure it’s mixed in properly before adding more.

The icing should start to turn smooth and shiny.

Step 10:

Depending on what design and how many colors you want to use, separate the icing out into small bowls and color them as you wish.

To make them like Starbucks you can just line the body in white for the snow, and then add the black for the nose and mouth.

But do feel free to get creative with it and add clothing and accessories such as a scarf or earmuffs.

That’s half the fun of making these cookies!

Ingredient substitutions

Speaking of flavors, it’s easy to swap out the peppermint and vanilla flavoring for anything you wish.

But there might also be dietary reasons why you don’t want or are able to use certain ingredients.

These substitutions will help you out a lot if you are trying to avoid dairy, or just want something different from the traditional peppermint style.

1. Margarine

One of the healthiest alternatives to butter you can have is margarine, if possible get one that is made from vegetable oil as it will contain less trans fats than butter or lard.

This is great if you are looking for either a healthier kind of cookie or to avoid dairy.

2. Mashed banana

You can’t always substitute an egg when cooking – in things such as custards it just doesn’t work.

But for cookies, mashed banana is a great alternative and offers its own natural sweetening and banana-ish hint to the cookies’ flavor.

The important thing is to make sure they are ripe or even a little ‘too’ ripe so they will mash down easier as we will need to beat them just like we did with the egg.

3. Ginger

While this won’t turn your cookies into full-on gingerbread men, substituting the peppermint for ginger will offer an equally delicious and festive Christmassy cookie which, for many, is a more desirable flavor than the peppermint.

4. Almond Milk

This is a great savory and non-dairy alternative to milk, almond milk definitely has its own distinct flavor which many actually prefer over traditional cow’s milk.

It also won’t overpower any of the icing or flavorings in this recipe either.

What to serve with Starbucks Snowman Cookies

Cookies are the perfect snack, they’re great for watching movies, a family get-together, or the best way is sneaking one in just before dinner when no one else is watching.

But you don’t always have to eat them plain, there are a few different ways you can enhance the cookie eating experience.

Milk

You probably already knew this one was coming.

This is the most traditional way to eat a cookie, the smooth and creamy flavor of the milk and the chocolate of the cookie make a perfect combination.

Rather appropriately, this is also Santa’s preferred way of eating cookies.

Ice cream

We all know about the ice cream sandwich.

Putting a big dollop of vanilla or chocolate ice cream on your cookie is definitely one of the best ways to enjoy it.

It starts to get interesting when you combine two flavors of ice cream with your cookie!

Tea

As most Brits will attest to, dunking your cookie in milk is actually the inferior way to eat them.

Dunking them in a nice cup of hot tea is actually the best way as the cookie will absorb the liquid faster and you will also be able to taste more of the cookie flavor as tea is a less overpowering flavor than milk.

How to store Starbucks Snowman Cookies

In general, we like to store cookies at room temperature in an air-tight container.

This allows them to retain much of their flavor and texture for as long as possible.

However, they will only last (depending on what ingredients you use) up to a week this way.

So sometime’s you have no choice but to store them elsewhere.

Store in the fridge

Storing cookies in the fridge is really a last resort as the cold air will introduce moisture to them and can affect their texture.

But if you are ok with this or don’t have any other choice, you can put them in an air-tight container and refrigerate them for two months.

Store in the freezer

This is the preferred method of storing cookies, just place them in a sealed container or freezer bag and freeze.

They will last for up to 12 months.

To defrost them just leave them out of the fridge, ideally in a dry area so they won’t retain too much moisture.