Description
Festive Christmas tree cookies bring holiday cheer with delightful peppermint and chocolate flavors. Decorated sugar cookies shaped like evergreen trees promise sweet memories for family gatherings.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 ¾ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ tsps vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract (optional)
- 3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 large egg whites or 3 tbsps meringue powder + 6 tbsps water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Green gel food coloring
- Assorted sprinkles, edible glitter, or nonpareils
- Star-shaped candies or sprinkles for tree toppers
Instructions
- Dry Ingredient Preparation: Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl to create a uniform dry base with evenly distributed ingredients.
- Butter Mixture: Cream butter and sugar using an electric mixer until the mixture becomes light, fluffy, and significantly increased in volume.
- Wet Ingredient Integration: Blend egg and vanilla and almond extracts into the butter mixture, ensuring a smooth and consistent incorporation.
- Dough Formation: Gently fold dry ingredients into the wet mixture, mixing until a uniform dough develops without excessive manipulation.
- Dough Chilling: Encase the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate, allowing flavor development and structural firmness to occur.
- Baking Preparation: Preheat the oven and dust a work surface with flour for precise dough rolling.
- Cookie Shaping: Roll out chilled dough and cut into festive Christmas tree shapes using a specialized cookie cutter, creating uniform holiday-inspired cookies.
- Baking Process: Arrange cookie cutouts on a lined baking sheet, maintaining adequate spacing to promote even baking and prevent potential merging.
- Cooling and Finishing: Bake until edges achieve a golden-brown tone, then transfer to a wire rack for complete cooling before adorning or serving.
Notes
- Chill Dough Strategically: Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour to prevent spreading and maintain crisp cookie edges during baking.
- Roll Evenly: Use consistent rolling pin pressure to create uniform cookie thickness, ensuring balanced baking and professional-looking results.
- Prevent Sticking: Lightly flour work surface and cookie cutter to easily release delicate Christmas tree shapes without tearing.
- Decorate Wisely: Wait until cookies are completely cooled before adding frosting or decorations to prevent melting and maintain intricate design details.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 23
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 16 g
- Sodium: 50 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 27 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg