Name: Melted Snowman Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 92 min
Ingredients: 1 roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough (16.5 ounces); White cookie icing (as needed); Orange cookie icing (as needed); Black cookie icing (as needed); 16 regular-size marshmallows; 32 M&Ms

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Melted snowman cookies look like a snowman who stayed out in the sun a little too long: a puddle of white icing, a marshmallow head tipped to one side, a carrot nose, two stick arms, and a couple of M&M buttons floating in the melt. They’re one of the most fun Christmas cookies you can make, and they start with a roll of store-bought sugar cookie dough, so the baking is the easy part.

All the personality comes from the decorating, and there’s no wrong way to do it. Every snowman ends up a little different, which makes these a great project for kids, a cookie decorating party, or a holiday cookie exchange where you want something that gets a laugh.

Melted snowman cookies with white icing puddles, marshmallow heads, carrot noses, and M&M buttons on a Christmas platter

Recipe Snapshot

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Cool and Set Time: About 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time: About 1 hour 47 minutes

Servings: 16 cookies

Difficulty: Easy

Perfect For: Decorating with kids, Christmas cookie trays, cookie exchanges, and winter parties
Main Ingredients: Refrigerated sugar cookie dough, white, black, and orange cookie icing, marshmallows, M&Ms

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

A shortcut cookie base: Refrigerated dough lets you focus on decorating instead of measuring and mixing.
No perfect shapes required: Irregular icing puddles make the melted snowmen look even better.
Simple decorations: Marshmallows become heads, M&Ms become buttons, and a few icing lines finish the faces.
Easy to personalize: Change the button colors and expressions to give every snowman a different look.

Why This Recipe Works

The white icing creates the melted-snow effect and holds the marshmallow head and candy buttons in place. Letting that base set before adding the black icing helps the arms stay defined instead of bleeding into the white puddle.

A fully cooled cookie is important here. Warm cookies can make the icing run farther than you want and leave the decorations sliding around. Once the cookies are cool, the decorating happens in two short stages with setting time between them.

Refrigerated sugar cookie dough, white, black, and orange cookie icing bottles, marshmallows, and M&Ms laid out for melted snowman cookies

The Ingredient Breakdown

Sugar cookie dough: A 16.5-ounce roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough makes 16 cookies. Slice or scoop it into 16 equal pieces so the cookies bake evenly and come out roughly the same size.
Cookie icing: Use the squeeze bottles labeled cookie icing, not tubs of frosting. Cookie icing is thinner and sets hard, so the cookies can be stacked or packed once they’re dry. Soft frosting stays tacky and smears.
Marshmallows: Regular-size marshmallows make the head. They stand tall enough to read as a snowman’s head, and the flat bottom presses neatly into the icing.
M&Ms: Two per cookie for the buttons. Any color works, but blue, red, and green look especially wintry.

How to Make Melted Snowman Cookies

Step 1: Bake the Cookies

Bake the cookie dough according to the package directions, dividing the roll into 16 equal pieces and spacing them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pull them when the edges are set and just barely golden. Lightly browned cookies make a softer, paler base that looks better under the white icing.

Step 2: Let Them Cool Completely

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then move them to a wire rack until they’re completely cool, about 15 minutes. Don’t rush this. Icing on a warm cookie melts and runs right off the edge.

Step 3: Make the Melted Snow Puddle

Squeeze a puddle of white icing onto each cookie. Use a toothpick to push it out into a lumpy, uneven shape, leaving a little cookie showing around the edge so it doesn’t drip over the side. Irregular is the goal here; a perfect circle looks like a plain iced cookie, not a melted snowman.

Step 4: Add the Marshmallow Head and Buttons

While the white icing is still wet, press a marshmallow into it near one edge of the puddle. Then press 2 M&Ms into the icing below the marshmallow for buttons. Placing the head off-center leaves room for the body and arms and makes the snowman look like it’s slumping over.

Step 5: Let the Base Set

Let the cookies sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, until the white icing is firm to the touch.

Step 6: Add the Face and Arms

Use the black icing to pipe two dots for eyes and a row of tiny dots for a mouth on the marshmallow. Pipe two thin stick arms on the white puddle, coming out from either side. Then use the orange icing to pipe a small carrot nose. Give each snowman a slightly different expression; the mix of faces is half the fun.

Step 7: Let Them Set Again

Let the cookies set for another 30 minutes, until all the icing is hard, before stacking or serving.

Melted snowman cookies with white icing puddles, marshmallow heads, carrot noses, and M&M buttons on a wire cooling rack

Make-Ahead and Storage Tips

You can bake the cookie bases a day ahead. Once completely cool, store them in an airtight container and decorate the next day.

Keep finished cookies in a single layer in an airtight container at cool room temperature, following any storage directions on your icing packaging. For the best appearance and marshmallow texture, plan to serve them within a day or two of decorating.

Avoid stacking the cookies. Even icing that feels dry on the surface can dent under another cookie, and the marshmallow heads make an even stack difficult.

If you want to get further ahead, freeze the undecorated baked cookies and thaw them completely before adding the icing and candy.

More Recipes You’ll Love

If you can’t get enough snowmen, my snowman truffles are another adorable no-fuss treat for the holiday table.
For a cookie tray that’s a little more grown-up, these Christmas meltaway cookies are buttery, tender, and melt in your mouth.
And if you want to take the marshmallow theme further, my easy homemade marshmallows are fun to make and even better in a mug of hot cocoa.
Planning a decorating party? These polar bear cupcakes keep the winter animal theme going.
Snowman Macarons: A festive baking project when you have time for something more detailed.

melted snowman sugar cookies served for a holiday cookie decorating party on a wooden tray with christmas beads

Melted Snowman Cookie Questions, Answered

No. In this version, the white icing creates the melted body and the marshmallow stays whole as the head. There’s no extra microwave or oven step after baking the cookies.

Yes, if you find them easier to handle separately. Let the faces dry before gently pressing the marshmallows into the wet white icing, taking care not to touch the decorated side.

The white base may still be too wet, or the black icing may be too runny for fine details. Let the base set longer and use cookie decorating icing that holds small dots and lines.

Yes, once all the icing is fully set. Use roomy bags and keep each cookie flat so the marshmallow and face don’t get pressed against the packaging. A shallow treat box offers more protection.

David Murphy