Gingerbread Christmas Tree Cookies
Calories: 154kcal
Adjust Servings Here: 24 cookies
Description
This Santa Christmas tree cookie recipe is the easiest way to bake cookies that are very popular with young children. This one uses a gingerbread cookie recipe that's quick, easy, and fun to make
Ingredients
16 Cookies
- 3½ cups (435 g) All-purpose flour
- 10 tablespoon (140 g) Butter unsalted, room temperature
- ¾ cup (165 g) Dark brown sugar packed
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) Molasses light or dark
- 1 large Egg
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Ground Ginger
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon Powder
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cloves
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg freshly grated
- ¼ teaspoon Orange extract (or 1 teaspoon orange zest)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Icing
- 4 cups (480 g) Powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoon (90 ml) Milk
- ¼ teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Dry ingredients - In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices - cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg.
- Dough - In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and egg. Followed by flour mixture, orange, and vanilla extract. Combine well. Pro tip - Make sure to cream the butter and sugar until the sugar is almost dissolved in the butter and it all becomes very lighter in color.
- Chill dough - Divide the dough into two, wrap in plastic, and let chill until firm enough to roll - about 2 hours or overnight. Pro tip - Do not skip on the chilling time. Otherwise, it will be too soft to roll and the cookies will spread.
- Roll - Roll the dough on a lightly flowered work surface to about ⅛ inch thick. Roll into a long rectangle about 3 inches in height. Then, using a sharp knife cut at an angle to create the long triangle shapes similar to a Christmas tree (as shown in the video). Or, you can use a Christmas tree cookie cutter too!Pro tip - I use a rolling pin with spacers so the dough is the same thickness all over. If necessary, chill the excess dough before you gather the scraps together and re-roll the cookie dough again.
- Chill cookies - Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Leaving a little gap between them for air circulation. Place the cookie sheet in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes. Pro tip - Chilling the cookies is a sure way to ensure the cookies do not spread. You can leave the rolled cookies well wrapped in the fridge for up to 48 hours before baking.
- Preheat the oven at 177°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4
- Bake the Christmas tree cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges.Pro tip - If you do not want to frost the baked cookies you can add sprinkles, colorful dragees, or M&M to the cookies before baking too.
- Cool - Once baked, cool them on the cookie sheet for 10 mins. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Icing for cookies - Combine the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk until you have a smooth thick piping consistency. Pro tip - This is a simple eggless frosting. But you can also use royal icing or other flavored frostings to ice these cookies.
- Frost the cookies - Color half the icing with garden green gel food colors. Add the white and green icing to two separate piping bags with a small star piping tip. Pipe diagonal lines on the triangle cookies as shown in the video and top with colorful sprinkles.Pro tip - Alternatively, you can also put the icing in a ziplock bag and cut a small snip at the end.
- Storage - Let the icing dry properly before you stack the cookies and store them in an airtight container or cookie jar.
Recipe Notes
- Always have all the ingredients at room temperature so the butter and sugar can cream until light and fluffy.
- Rest the dough before rolling the cookies. Resting helps the butter firm up again which makes it easier to work and prevents spreading
- If the rolled cookie dough is soft, put it back in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Chilled cookie dough will give well-defined shapes so you won't have to struggle with them being so soft.
- Preheat the oven for a good 15 minutes making sure the oven is at the right temperature. A cold oven will spread the cookies.
- Place cut cookies in the fridge while the oven is preheating to prevent them from spreading.
- When baked leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. This will prevent them from sweating on the bottom.
Bake Ahead and Freezing Instructions
- Dough - You can freeze the dough for 3 months wrapped well in a ziplock bag. Then, thaw in the fridge overnight when ready to use.
- Rolled cookies - And, you can also freeze the rolled cookies on a cookie sheet between parchment papers. In addition, wrap the tray in plastic to prevent drying out. They will stay for up to a month.
- Baked cookies - Alternatively, freeze the baked cookies between parchment papers for up to 3 months and thaw in the fridge overnight when ready to use.
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
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