Bake Snowman biscuits with Biscuiteers

Biscuiteers have lovingly recreated Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman in biscuit form! They’ve shared their secret biscuit recipe so you can try your hand at icing The Snowman yourself at home.

Ingredients:

For the biscuits:

•   350g plain flour

•   100g self-raising flour

•   125g granulated sugar

•   125g salted butter softened and diced

•   125g golden syrup

•   1 tsp vanilla bean paste

•   1 large egg, lightly beaten

For the icing:

•   180ml water

•   1kg icing sugar

•   30g egg white powder

How to make them:

1. First, start by baking the vanilla biscuits.

2. Sift together the flour in a mixing bowl, add the sugar and mix well.

3. Add the butter. Using the tips of your fingers, rub the ingredients together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

4. When all the butter is evenly mixed in, make a well in the centre and add the syrup and the egg.

5. Mix well, drawing in any of the flour from the sides, and stop when a ball has formed.

6. Adding flour to help roll out the dough will make it tougher, so instead, the trick is to use two sheets of parchment paper. This means you don’t have to use any extra flour.

7. Divide the dough in two and shape it into two flat discs. Place the dough on a sheet of parchment paper, making your dough as even as possible.

8. Gently squash down the dough with the rolling pin or your hands, cover it with a second sheet of parchment then use the rolling pin to roll it properly. The top sheet of paper may crinkle – just peel it off and smooth it down gently before starting to roll again.

9. Gently roll the dough until it is 5mm thick all over.

10. Transfer the whole sheet of rolled dough still sandwiched between the parchment to a baking tray and place in the fridge to chill for at least 20-30 minutes before cutting your Snowman shapes. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough.

11. We use special cutters but you can easily make your own by creating a paper template and cutting around the dough.

13. Bake in the oven for 15-25 minutes depending on the size of your biscuits at 170°C or until golden brown.

14. Once your vanilla biscuits are out of the oven and have cooled down, the fun really begins and you can start to get creative!

Making the icing:

1. You will need to make two batches of icing – a thicker line of icing for the outline and a more runny icing to fill the biscuit in.

2. Combine the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together to form a thick, smooth paste that is bright white in colour and has the consistency of toothpaste.

3. Mix white, black, orange, and green for your line icing and white and green for your flood icing.

4. Carefully ice the outline on your biscuits using a piping bag. This will create ‘walls’ to stop your runnier flood icing from escaping. Let this icing dry for around 10 minutes at room temperature before continuing.

5. Flood the body of The Snowman with your white flood icing, then his hat with the green. Use the nozzle of the squeezy icing bottle to gently nudge the flood icing into the corners. Be careful not to overfill the biscuit. Pop any air bubbles with a cocktail stick.

6. Set your oven to its lowest temperature (usually around 50 °C. Carefully lay the biscuits onto a baking tray and pop them back in the oven for 40 minutes. The low heat of the oven just dries the icing and creates a professional glossy look!

7. When you take your biscuits out of the oven, let them cool for around half an hour before starting to add the detail.

8. Give your snowman buttons by using the black line icing, then ice his eyes and mouth. Then use the green line icing for his scarf and the orange for his nose.

9. Now let your biscuits dry for around 15 minutes at room temperature. You can then pack them up in cellophane bags and give as gifts or use them to decorate your Christmas table.