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Snowman empire biscuits

By: Coinneach MacLeod, AKA The Hebridean Baker

Published: 6 Nov 24
Updated: 6 Nov 24

“Snowman empires offer a festive twist on Scotland’s beloved empire biscuit,” says The Hebridean Baker. “Ideal for Christmas baking with kids, they pair buttery shortbread with a sweet jam filling, topped with fondant to make a wee snowman. The biggest challenge will be trying not to eat all the Jelly Tots before you finish decorating!”

Who is the Hebridean Baker? Coinneach MacLeod brings storytelling, Gaelic flair and, most importantly, big colourful jumpers into the kitchen. Raised on the island of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, he’s written four bestselling cookbooks celebrating the flavours of Scotland and beyond. He’s a frequent guest on This Morning – and his own television show is scheduled to air in 2025. Follow Coinneach on on Instagram @hebrideanbaker

Easy
November 2024

Test kitchen approved

Makes 12-14
Hands-on time 45 min. Oven time 10 min

Vegetarian recipes

Nutrition: Per biscuit (for 14)

Calories: 380kcals
Fat: 15g (9.5g saturated
Protein: 4g
Carbohydrates: 56g (32g sugars)
Fibre: 1.3g
Salt: 0.1g

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Before you start

Look for specialist icings in the baking aisle of big supermarkets and online.

These biscuits will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Before you start

Look for specialist icings in the baking aisle of big supermarkets and online.

These biscuits will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Ingredients

250g unsalted butter, softened
100g caster sugar
1 medium egg
½ tsp vanilla bean paste
450g plain flour, plus extra to dust

For the decorations

250g white fondant icing
100g red fondant icing
Assorted cake sprinkles
Tube of white writing/piping/ decorating icing
30g black fondant icing
42g pack Jelly Tots
75g seedless raspberry jam

Specialist kit

5-7cm round cutter

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Method

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (use a hand mixer or do it by hand with a wooden spoon), then mix in the egg and vanilla. Sift in the flour in batches and mix well to combine.
Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough to 5mm thick. Use the cutter to cut out the biscuits; you should have 24-28. Put them on a lined baking tray, leaving space between the biscuits to spread. Put them in the fridge for at least 1 hour to firm up.
Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Bake for 10 minutes; you want the biscuits to still be light in colour. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Roll out the white icing to about 2mm thick. With the same cutter, cut out circles of icing (half as many icing circles as biscuits.) Lightly brush the undersides with lukewarm water and stick them to half the biscuits.
Roll out the red icing in the same way and cut 12-14 circles from it, then slice them in half – you might want to trim the straight sides a little more to give room to create the faces. Attach these to the top half of the white-iced biscuits using a touch of water to create the snowmen’s hats.
Dampen the areas of the hats where you want to apply sprinkles and pipe white writing icing to create patterns on them. Dampen the white icing and form small balls from the black icing for the eyes and smile, placing these on the faces along with a Jelly Tot for the nose.
Spread 1 tbsp jam on each of the remaining biscuits. Gently press the decorated biscuits onto the jam-covered biscuits. Leave them to set for roughly 30 minutes before serving