Christmas Tree Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

Welcome to the "Twelve Days of Cookies" Special. For the first twelve days in December, a new cookie recipe will be featured to help fill your cookie tins this season. On the Tenth Day of Cookies, my true love sent to me: Ten Christmas Tree Cut-Out Sugar Cookies.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Rich, delectable vanilla and butter flavor
• Stays super soft, yet keeps its shape
• Delicious with or without icing
• Highly versatile
• Easy to decorate
• Can be frozen and made ahead

Back in 2020, I remember writing about those long and tiresome baking marathons where me and my co-workers were pumping out cakes, cookies, and bread as though the world would never see them again.

Three years later, and I am still using those $0.99 Christmas cookie cutters to create delicious sugar cookies and long lasting memories.

Christmas tree cut-out cookies are my favorite to bake because (in my humble opinion) they are easy to decorate. Baking beginners and veterans will find that the Christmas tree cookie shape does the majority of the decorating work for you. All you need is some good Royal Icing and sprinkles.

How to EASILY dress up your Christmas Tree Cookies

The Christmas tree cookie shape is universal. In other words, even without any decorating, a plain cut out cookie is easily identifiable as a Christmas tree. This essentially means that no matter how you decorate it, it will be recognizable as a Christmas tree. So, if you are worried that your decorating skills are not up to speed, you will be fine.

For the easiest design, pipe white, red, or green royal icing onto a Christmas tree shaped cookie. Then, let fancy sprinkles or do the rest of the work.

My favorite place to buy beautiful sprinkles is Sprinkle Pop. They release very attractive seasonal mixes complete with hand decorated royal icing shapes.

However, Sprinkle Pop is expensive. You can do just as well with Nonpareils or Jimmies from your local supermarket. Nonpareils are the little tiny balls, and Jimmies are the long decorettes.

If you are feeling sparkly, you can also use edible glitter or sugar crystals to decorate your sugar cookies.

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Special Tools and Equipment

Print

Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

Course Dessert

Prep Time 2 hours

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 25

Author Christie C.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (220g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup (200g) cane sugar
• 3 cups (300g) all-purpose flour, sifted
• 2 large egg yolks (35g)
• 1 tbsp (15g) vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 24 oz (800ml) royal icing, for decorating

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until super smooth and creamy. Next, add the eggs and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated.
2. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
3. A third at a time, mix the flour into the creamed sugar until combined. Mix for another 15 seconds. Do not over-mix. Over-mixing will develop the gluten structure, creating a dense and chewy bread-like cookie. The dough should come together easily, but still have a slightly crumbly consistency.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it until the dough comes together further. This should only take a minute. At this point, it should no longer be crumbly, but smooth and easy to shape. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.
5. Lay a 12×12 inch sheet of parchment onto the counter and dust it with flour. Roll out one of the chunks of dough onto the parchment until it is just under a 1/4 inch thick. Repeat for the remaining piece of dough.
6. Lay the layers of parchment and dough on top of one another, and place onto a baking sheet. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill it in the freezer for at least 1 hour.
7. Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).
8. Take the dough out of the freezer and lay the parchment on the table.
9. Keeping the dough on the parchment, use desired cookie cutters to cut out unique shapes in the dough. Set the shapes onto clean parchment lined cookie sheets at least an inch apart from one another. Knead the leftover dough together and roll it out again into a sheet just shy of a 1/4 inch thick. If the dough is too soft, chill it again before cutting out additional cookie shapes. Repeat until all of the dough has been used up. You should have 20 to 25 cookies.
10. Bake them in the center of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until slightly golden at the edges.
11. Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating with royal icing, or eat as is!

Did you give this recipe a try? If so, please tell us how it went in the comments below!