Melted Snowman Cookies

1. In a medium bowl, beat butter, sugar, egg, milk and vanilla. Next, add 2 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat until well blended. If the dough is still really sticky you may add in another ¼ to ½ cup of flour. 
2. Divide the cookie dough into 2 equal size portions. Wrap each in plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until firm.
3. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature or until soft enough to roll easily. 
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to ¼ inch thick. Using a 2 ½ inch, lightly floured cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible. Remaining dough pieces can be gathered together and rolled back out to cut additional cookies.Place the cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheets.
5. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until the edges are just golden. These cookies can cook quickly, so start checking at the 5 minute mark. When the cookies are removed from the oven, place baking sheets on cooling racks to allow them to cool completely prior to decorating.

Icing

1. In a large, clean and grease-free mixing bowl, sift together the powdered sugar and meringue powder. Add 5 tablespoons of the warm water. Using an electric mixer, beat on high power for 10 minutes.
2. Check the consistency. You want the consistency of icing to be thick, but still has the ability to move and slide on the cookie just a little bit. If the icing is too thick and will barely move, add a few drops of water and mix well. If it is too thin beat longer, as it thickens the longer you beat it.

Decorating

1. Drop a dollop of icing onto the middle of a cookie and carefully spread out towards the edges. Some icing might slowly run off the side, that’s ok – they are melting snowmen! However if it quickly runs off, the icing may be too thin. If so go back to mixing a bit more.
2. Immediately place one marshmallow on the cookie for the head of the snowman and very gently press into the icing. Carefully add M&M candies for buttons. Take care to not smudge the icing as is will be soft. Repeat with remaining cookies.
3. When you are ready to add the eyes and buttons, scoop out some of the remaining icing and place in a small bowl. Add some black gel coloring to the icing, place into a piping bag and pipe on arms and eyes. Repeat the process with orange food coloring to create a carrot nose.
4. Finally, add a piece of licorice for the scarf and/or some sprinkles for fun!Allow icing to fully dry, which takes approximately 2 hours. Placing them in the refrigerator can help speed this up if needed.