Description
Festive Christmas tree cookies bring holiday cheer with their delightful green hue and sprinkled charm. Crisp sugar cookie edges and sweet buttercream frosting create a merry treat you’ll treasure during seasonal celebrations.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups (340 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
Flavor Enhancers:
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
Leavening and Seasoning:
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Craft the foundational mixture by vigorously blending softened butter and sugar until achieving a pillowy, aerated texture. Incorporate egg, vanilla essence, and optional almond extract, ensuring thorough integration.
- Simultaneously sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate vessel. Methodically fold dry ingredients into the creamy base, creating a uniform, cohesive dough.
- Compress the dough into a compact disc, envelop with plastic membrane, and nestle in refrigerator for minimum 60 minutes to allow molecular relaxation and flavor melding.
- Warm oven to 350°F. Liberate chilled dough and roll across lightly dusted surface until uniformly 1/4-inch thick. Employ festive evergreen-shaped cutters to transform dough, transferring delicate silhouettes onto parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Introduce cookie landscape to heated chamber, allowing 8-10 minutes of transformative baking until golden perimeters emerge. Permit brief cooling directly on baking surface before migrating to wire elevation rack.
- Construct royal embellishment by whisking powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water until achieving glossy, pipeable consistency. Partition icing, infusing desired chromatic variations.
- Embellish cookies using precision piping techniques: outline tree form with verdant hues, accent with crimson and ivory details. Sprinkle decorative elements while surface remains receptive and glistening.
Notes
- Chill dough thoroughly to prevent spreading and maintain crisp tree shapes during baking.
- Use gel food coloring for vibrant, concentrated icing colors without thinning the consistency.
- Keep royal icing covered with damp towel to prevent hardening while decorating multiple cookies.
- For gluten-free version, substitute all-purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten-free baking blend, ensuring same texture and taste.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 24
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 20 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 21 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 1.5 g
- Cholesterol: 15 mg