Allergy Friendly + Gluten Free + Vegan - Snowman Cookies

These cute-as-a-button snowman cookies are a blast to make with the kids on Christmas Eve. We use a little colored fondant for the nose, but you can also use any orange allergy-friendly candy.
 
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Makes: 30 2" cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup oil of choice
3/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 
For the Icing:
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk of choice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
 
Assembly:
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup allergy friendly rolled fondant
1 cup powdered sugar
orange food coloring

How-To

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.

In a second bowl, mix together 2 cups sugar, applesauce, cocoa powder, oil, vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or wax paper, and chill for 20 minutes.

Roll the dough into balls a little smaller than a golf ball, then place on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes - they will still feel slightly underbaked - remove them from the oven anyway! Allow them to cool on the sheet tray before transferring to a wire rack or resealable container.

For the icing:

Mix all ingredients together until smooth.

Assembly: 

Cool cookies completely, then spread with icing. Sprinkle the shredded coconut on top of the icing, coating completely. Use the chocolate chips to make eyes and a mouth for the snowman.

For the fondant nose:

Add a very small amount of food coloring and a large pinch of powdered sugar to allergy-friendly fondant. Knead the color into the fondant until evenly colored. Pinch off small pieces of the fondant and roll it between your palms until you get a small carrot shape. Stick it onto the cookie with a tiny bit of vanilla icing as “glue.”