Let it snow!
Who says you can't have snowmen at Christmastime when you live in a tropical climate?
I got the idea for these cookies from a Japanese food book I bought earlier this year called "Character Ippai no Okashi" (ISBN 4-8347-1739-9) by Yukiko Brenek.
She used sliced dried mango and cherry for the nose, eyes and buttons and slivered almonds for the arms. I used dried papaya and cranberries for mine. I didn't want to do the conversions for the recipe so I used this almond horn one instead and it worked just fine, although the cookies did expand quite a bit. I think any cookie recipe that doesn't bake up brown should work great, like a sugar or shortbread cookie.
Almond Horns
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 325F. In large bowl combine powdered sugar and butter. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg yolks and vanilla extract; continue beating until well blended. Reduce speed to low. Add flour, almonds, cream of tartar and baking soda. Continue beating until well mixed. Refridgerate dough until hard enough to form into firm balls.
Shape the dough into little balls and add a small amount of water between the two balls to join them. Apply dried papaya for nose, thin slices/pieces of dried cranberries for eyes, mouth and buttons and slivered almonds for the arms. A toothpick helps to pick up the various dried fruit bit and apply it to cookie. (Note: This is a very soft cookie recipe and the dough tends to spread easily when baked. Since we live in Hawaii I shaped my cookies and then put them in the fridge for a while before baking them to help prevent them from spreading out too much in the oven.)
Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Cool completely before sifting powdered sugar over cookies.
Here's Buddy's version of us as a snow family. Note the legs on his snowmen. This addition was necessary for them to be able to walk off the plates and into our mouths. Yum!
they are too sweet !
i'm gonna try to translate the recipe to make some ! :)
Posted by: charlie | December 11, 2005 at 11:42 PM
Haha, how will you be able to put those cuties in your mouth and eat them!?
Posted by: Hanna | December 12, 2005 at 01:38 AM
Those have to be the cutest cookies I've ever seen! I'll definitely be using this recipe/pattern. Thanks for sharing, Myra!
Posted by: Jan | December 12, 2005 at 03:01 AM
oh my gosh! these are SO GREAT! saw them over at flickr and had to come and see them here again...YUMMY.
Posted by: jenny vorwaller | December 12, 2005 at 04:06 AM
Hmm, my cookie day is coming up on Wednesday. What a cute idea! I want to gobble them up right now.
Posted by: Barb | December 12, 2005 at 06:34 AM
Those are really super cute. Thank you for the recipe. :D
Posted by: Karen | December 12, 2005 at 08:59 AM
I think your version is better than the one in the book---My mouth is watering over here!
Super yum!
Posted by: Snowbear | December 12, 2005 at 09:08 AM
oooh, your cookies look so ono! and buddy's are really cute with the dear little short legs!
Posted by: debbie | December 12, 2005 at 09:20 AM
ooh these are totally gorgeous. I am definitely making these in our warm climate also!
xx
Posted by: claire | December 12, 2005 at 11:44 AM
They look so adorable and delicious!! The recipe sounds something like one of my faves- Sandies. I love Buddy's version with the little legs. ;-) Sounds like exactly something that Bossy would do, too!
Posted by: chris | December 12, 2005 at 01:11 PM
Okay, I think THESE are the cookies I'm bringing to the cookie exchange! And I love the legs on the snowmen--Leo always draws those on, too!
Posted by: Anamaria | December 12, 2005 at 03:49 PM
adorable! i love the tiny legs on buddy's snowpeople. i think i'd need a whole village in my belly to be satisfied :)
Posted by: susanne | December 12, 2005 at 05:11 PM
best looking snowmen i have seen yet! sure beats the muddy ones with leaf bits that are half melting over here. thanks for the recipe!
Posted by: hannah | December 12, 2005 at 05:19 PM
these are sooooo cute! ♥
Posted by: joleen | December 12, 2005 at 06:11 PM
So damn cute! I am going to explode now! I am definitely going to try them too, thanks!
Posted by: marilyn | December 12, 2005 at 07:24 PM
ohhh. awesome. you'd really impress me if they were wearing leis. hahahah
Posted by: justJENN | December 13, 2005 at 09:36 AM
very cute! i might have to try them!
Posted by: joyce | December 13, 2005 at 01:49 PM
adorably tasty-looking!
Posted by: mrspilkington | December 13, 2005 at 07:27 PM
I dont usually comment in your journal, because I made a feed to read it here: http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=my_lil_mochi. In fact, I never miss an entry. Ijust love your blog! When I saw this on my 'friend's page', I loudly exclaimed, I WANT TO BITE THEIR HEADS OFF!! My neighbors asked me what excited me so!
ps...wheee! I just checked that linked page and 4 other people have joined since i first created the LJ syndication. Congrats.
Posted by: La Fae | December 14, 2005 at 11:05 AM
so yummy and wonderful! i'm definitley going to try them. :)
Posted by: laurie | December 14, 2005 at 04:06 PM
I HAVE to make these!!! Tooo cute!!!
Posted by: Dawn | December 14, 2005 at 05:35 PM
I love those and will try to make them, thanks for the recipe
Posted by: kimc | December 22, 2005 at 09:04 AM
Those cookies look so GOOD!
Posted by: Scout | December 23, 2005 at 04:46 AM
These are too cute! I thought they were mochi when I saw the first picture! Hey, that may be pretty cool for my daughter's japanese class next Christmas!
Posted by: stace | December 28, 2005 at 11:25 PM