I need to say this right off the bat. I am no fancy baker. I am a blogger, but while I am a blogger I adore taking photos of food and baking fun treats for my family. Creating fun recipes, and sharing them with you all has quickly become something I look forward to when it comes to blogging. But before moving forward just keep in mind, I’m no professional when it comes to baking or decorating!
I came up with an idea to do Christmas tree cookies and wanted to do Christmas lights on my cookies, but I wasn’t sure what to do. What do you use for the lights? Smarties? Nerds? M&Ms? That’s when I came across Baked Bree‘s post, and she had used mini M&M’s candy for her cupcakes! Genius, so I took inspiration from her and used them on my trees! Be sure to check out her recipe for her cupcakes, they look amazing!
I asked my sister in law if she could share her sugar cookie recipe with me as she makes the best cookies, and I was thrilled when she said yes. They are super easy, and the recipe makes a ton of dough – I had enough left over to freeze!
Again, while I’m no professional, I think these turned out pretty cute. I bought a small Christmas Tree cookie cutter at the Bulk Barn, and although it wasn’t the bigger one I wanted, I think they did turn out pretty cute.
Cookie Ingredients Needed:
- 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
- 2 cups white sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
Cookie Directions:
- In a large bowl cream together the butter and the sugar until smooth.
- Beat in eggs and vanilla
- Stir in the flour, baking powder and the salt.
- Cover, chill for at least 1 hour (or overnight!)
- Preheat your oven to 400F
- Roll out dough on floured surface, don’t be afraid to put extra flour on the dough to help roll out smoothly
- Roll out dough 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
- Cut into Christmas Tree shapes using cookie cutter
- Place cookies one inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake 6-8 minutes and cool completely before decorating.
Royal Icing:
In large bowl of stand mixer combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy. Add confectioners’ sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and the mixture is shiny. Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes.
Royal Icing Source: Alton Brown, here.
I found the hardest part was getting the green royal icing to go on precisely what I wanted it and for it to look good. I think for my first try ever using royal icing they turned out pretty well.
For decorating I used:
- Black decorating gel (I used the black glitter kind)
- Mini m&ms
After spreading on your Royal Icing use the black decorating gel to make the Christmas light strings, and add on your mini M&Ms.
My kids had a blast eating them, I however only got to enjoy 1 out of 3 dozen or so that I did make. I’ll be making more during the kids Christmas break just because they were delicious and super cute to look at.
Will you be making anything special for the holidays this year? I can’t wait to make some more for the holidays, and the boys even asked if we could make some for Santa! Perhaps, I think Santa would enjoy these cookies, what do you think?
