• When using my sugar cookie recipe (find it here) to make your dough, you'll need to prep and chill it ahead of time.
• Roll out the sugar cookie dough and cut-out about 30 gnomes using an ice cream cone cookie cutter or by triangles in the dough. Re-roll scraps as needed. Bend the tip of the triangle to form the hat tip. Bake at 400˚F for 5-7 minutes. Cool completely.
• Divide the buttercream into three portions. Use black gel paste food coloring (with a tiny bit of yellow) to make gray buttercream from one of the portions. Put the frosting into three pastry bags.

Buttercream Bearded Gnomes

• Use a grass piping tip to make beards on the gnome cookies.
• Use a round tip to make gray and white stripes on the hats of the gnomes cookies.
• Finish with a candy melt nose (see instructions below).

Cotton Candy Bearded Gnomes

• Pipe of spread white buttercream over the whole cookie.
• Cut and mold pieces of white cotton candy to form triangular shaped beards. Place the beard on the cookie and use a paring knife to make slits in it.
• Use a round tip to make gray and white stripes on the hats of the gnomes cookies.
• Finish with a candy melt nose (see instructions below) and sprinkles it desired.

Candy Melt Noses

• Melt the candy melts and chocolate chip in the microwave on low for one minute. Stir until smooth. Return to the microwave and melt on low in 30-second intervals, stirring after each time, until smooth.
• Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag, snip the tip off, and pipe small dollops onto a piece of parchment paper. Allow the candy melts to harden.