Disney melodies often play in my head, and a single word can bring up a whole little movie scene. I found myself humming Anna from Frozen while decorating these Snowmen Sugar Cookies. They’re simple, cheerful, and perfect for sharing—would you like to bake a snowman?
Snow is the theme for my January Military Care Package. I’m not a fan of dangerous, travel-disrupting snow, but I do love the childhood memories snow evokes: snow days, building snowmen, sledding, and cozy treats. For Soldier B. and his buddies, a few seasonal cookies and themed items can bring back that warm feeling of home.
This is my eighth post about military care packages, and I’m presenting the information differently this time. Previously I packed everything into one long post that included box contents, a recipe, and decorating tips for the circle sugar cookies I always include. That made it harder for readers to find specific information, so I split the content into two focused posts.
Last week I shared a new recipe for Cinnamon Snowball Cookies. Today I’ll highlight the care package items and provide step-by-step directions for these Iced Snowmen Sugar Cookies.
Part 1 — Care Package Contents: Around the holidays, stores like the Dollar Store, Target, and supermarkets stock plenty of snow-themed items ideal for a winter care package. This time I planned ahead and bought items for both the December and January boxes at once.
My goal is to include inexpensive, thematic, and disposable items that are fun, cheerful, and easy to pack. This snow-themed box included foil-wrapped chocolate snowmen, packaged “snowball” cupcakes, hot apple cider and hot chocolate mixes, snowflake decorations, a Pez snowman, a snowflake candle, Snickers minis in a snowflake tin, and puzzle books. These small treats and novelties bring smiles and a little seasonal cheer.
To decorate the inside of the box, I line it with wrapping paper and glue it in place. I tape Soldier B.’s full name and address inside the lid as a backup in case the external label gets damaged. I also cover the outside address with packing tape to protect it from moisture. So far, everything has arrived safely.
Part 2 — Circle Sugar Cookies and Decorating: Decorating the snowmen faces is very straightforward. Most of the icing remains white; decoration relies on sprinkles and colored sugar for quick, festive results.
I baked one batch of chocolate sugar cookies; this produced 24 cookies for the care package. I used one batch of Glaze Icing and reserved most of it white. When the glaze reached a thicker outline consistency, I removed a little more than ½ cup for outlining and put it in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. I also removed about 1 tablespoon of that thicker icing and colored it orange for the noses, placing it in a small piping bag. A plastic sandwich bag with the corner snipped works well in place of a pastry bag.
Start by outlining the cookie edge and drawing a line across the center to separate the snowman’s face from the hat. Let the outline set for about 30 minutes, then flood the face area with thinner white icing. Immediately after flooding, use tweezers to carefully place mini M&M’s for eyes and tiny black sequin sprinkles for the mouth. Tweezers are a great help when placing small decorations precisely.
Pipe a small orange triangle for the nose. You can also use half an orange M&M pressed flat onto the iced surface; it’s a cute alternative but may add thickness that makes packing trickier, so I prefer flat piped noses when shipping cookies. If you’ll be eating them at home, the M&M option works beautifully and saves time coloring icing.
When the face icing has set for about an hour, finish the hat. Flood the hat area with white or colored icing, then hold the cookie over a bowl and sprinkle colored sanding sugar to cover the hat—catch the excess sugar for reuse. Add additional sprinkles to the brim and rim with tweezers for precision. Small snowflake sprinkles make the hats especially festive.
Allow iced sugar cookies to dry overnight so the icing hardens before packing. I wrap cookies in pairs, bottoms together, using plastic wrap. The wrapped bundles go into a freezer-weight gallon zip-top bag arranged snugly in a column to reduce shifting in transit.
Part 3 — New Recipe Included: To round out the snow theme, I included two dozen Cinnamon Snowball Cookies. These cookies are sturdy, keep well, and deliver a delightful cinnamon crunch—ideal for mailing and for enjoying over time. Together, Iced Snowmen Sugar Cookies and Cinnamon Snowball Cookies deliver seasonal flavor and the kind of simple joy that snow brings, without the need to bundle up against the cold.