Christmas Tree Cookies
Updated: Dec 12, 2022
Servings: 10-12 Cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup salted butter, softened (you can use unsalted if you wish)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3 drops drop green food coloring (gel recommended)
Directions:
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Then set aside.
In a separate bowl (or in a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment) mix together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add in the egg and vanilla to the butter mixture and continue to mix until fully combined and smooth.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until a soft dough forms. If it helps to combine this using your hands you can do that too!
Once you have a nice dough formed, remove about 3/4 cups of it to dye green.
Use gloves if you have them to dye the small amount of dough green.
Flatten the green and white dough into discs and wrap separately in plastic wrap to chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, roll both doughs out separately to about 1/4". Place the white dough back in the fridge and cut out Christmas trees with the green dough. (I used a small 2 ½” Christmas tree cookie cutter).
Stack the green trees on top of each other as much as you can without the dough wobbling over. I stacked maybe 3-4 on top and had a few piles. Place the green stacked trees in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Take out the white dough and let it sit at room temp for a good 5-10 minutes so it's easier to roll. While it sits out, cut off the edges to make a more even rectangle. Keep the scraps!
Once the trees are frozen solid, take the scraps of white dough and place them in between the tree ridges on the side. Use the video above for reference.
Place the tree log in the center of the white dough then wrap the rolled out dough around the trees. You can pinch the seams together to help the two sides meet. It helps to roll this entire log, with the trees on the inside, altogether to help shape and smooth everything out. Remember to refer to the video above for more visuals on how to create these cookies, this part can be a bit tricky.
Wrap the entire roll in plastic wrap again and let sit in the freezer while preheating the oven to 375°. While the oven is preheating, prepare a cookie sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Once the log has chilled, slice the log into about 1/4" thickness. Place each cookie about 1 1/2" - 2" apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 9-10 minutes or until the edges just barely look brown. We want these nice and soft so as soon as you see a bit of browning on the edges, take them out of the oven and let sit on the cookie sheet for an additional 10 minutes on the sheet to firm up a bit/ finish baking and cooling.
Enjoy! 🎄