Melting Snowman Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Christmas is right around the corner, and nothing says Christmas like snowmen and cookies. But here in Hawaii  since I don't live up in Mauna Kea a snowman sadly would not survive. So these "I'm melting!" Snowmen Cookies are a great tribute to Christmas here in the islands. I've seen similar cookies done before on Pinterest and figured I'd give it a decorating go myself. They are quite cute and tasty if I do say so myself! 
It was also an awesome opportunity to test out a Chocolate Sugar Cookie Recipe and to once again use my new favorite royal icing recipe (I actually feel like I'm a professional decorator every time I use it). I'm not that huge a fan of sugar cookies, but these chocolate sugar cookies are absolutely amazing!!!

CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIES:
      Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dark chocolate cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. (3 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract

 Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside. In another bowl combine the butter and sugar with an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the egg and vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated and no streaks remain.  Form the dough into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1-2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to about ¼-inch thickness.  Cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters and place cut outs on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes, just until set.  Let cool on the baking sheet about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Decorate as desired.

Yield: will make 30 1 1/2 inch round cookies, but amount will vary depending on the size of the cookie cutter(s) you use.

*P.S. I made one batch and then 3 more because they taste that good!

I'm working on a few other Christmas craft projects so I'm sorry I've been missing in action for a while. I should be posting up a few more recipes by the end of the year (fingers crossed).

Happy Baking!