Best 10 String Light Christmas Tree Cookies Recipes

STRING-LIGHT CHRISTMAS-TREE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat butter with sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture, beating just until combined. Divide dough in half, transfer each to plastic wrap, form into disks, wrap tightly, and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 3 days (or freeze up to 1 month).
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let 1 disk of dough stand at room temperature until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out to a scant 1/4 inch thick. Stamp out tree shapes with an approximately 4-inch-tall cookie cutter, transferring cutouts to parchment-lined baking sheets as you work. Use a star-shaped aspic cutter to stamp out tree toppers from dough scraps. Repeat with remaining disk of dough. Freeze cutouts until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Bake, rotating rack positions halfway through, until cookies are set and edges turn golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks; let cool completely.
• Transfer melted chocolate to a pastry bag fitted with a small, plain tip, such as Ateco #2 (or use a small freezer bag, and snip the tiniest possible hole in one corner). Starting at top of each tree, drizzle chocolate in a random back-and-forth pattern, then adhere candies intermittently to mimic string lights. Pipe a small dot of chocolate at very top of tree, and adhere a cookie star. Let stand at room temperature until chocolate sets, about 4 hours; or refrigerate just until set, about 15 minutes. (Do not keep cookies in refrigerator.) Store in an airtight container at room temperature, between sheets of parchment, up to 1 week.

CHOCOLATE CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIES

Steps:

• Carefully unwrap the peanut butter cups, making sure no chocolate comes off on the wrapper (refrigerating them first will help prevent this). Unwrap the chocolate kisses.
• Cut out twelve 2-inch parchment squares. Turn a water glass upside down and place one of the parchment squares on the flat bottom. Place a peanut butter cup on the parchment, wide-side down. Pipe a dot of green icing on top of the peanut butter cup and place a chocolate kiss on top. Pipe green icing branches onto the chocolate "tree." Starting at the bottom of the peanut butter cup, pipe a thin, straight line up one of its grooves and up to the tip of the chocolate kiss. Repeat, piping a line up every groove of the peanut butter cup and over the chocolate kiss, connecting the lines at the tip. Press a star sprinkle onto the tip of the assembled tree and decorate with silver pearl sprinkles, pressing them gently to adhere. Carefully slide the parchment with the tree off the glass and let the icing set. Repeat to create 11 additional trees.
• Using a butter knife or a small offset spatula, spread a layer of vanilla frosting over each sugar cookie in a circle, leaving the edges plain. Carefully place a candy Christmas tree in the center of each cookie.

MINTY CHRISTMAS TREE CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Mix the mint and vanilla extracts with the egg in a small bowl with a fork.
• Beat together the butter, granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed until the butter has picked up the sugars, about 30 seconds. (If using an electric hand mixer, beat about 2 minutes.) Increase the speed to medium and beat, stopping halfway to scrape the bowl, until slightly creamy, about 1 minute (about 3 minutes with a hand mixer).
• Reduce the speed to low, slowly add the egg mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture a heaping cup at a time in 2 additions, stopping a few times to scrape the bowl and beaters. (If using a hand mixer, increase the speed as the dough gets thicker to keep the beaters spinning.) Once all the flour is just incorporated, increase the speed to medium (higher with a hand mixer) and beat until the dough is very smooth, about 2 minutes (about 5 minutes with a hand mixer).
• Turn the dough out of the bowl and bring it together. Divide the dough into 2 even pieces, each about 11 ounces. Shape each piece into a 6-inch square and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours and up to overnight.
• Remove one of the dough squares from the refrigerator and let soften until just pliable but still cool and firm, about 15 minutes. Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Dust a piece of parchment with flour. Dust the dough square with flour and roll it out on the parchment to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Lift the dough occasionally by sliding a metal spatula or bench scraper underneath to make sure it isn't sticking to the parchment. Cut out Christmas trees with a 2-inch cutter as close together as possible and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between the trees. Gather together the scraps and roll and cut more cookies. Chill the cookies on the baking sheets in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking.
• Bake, rotating the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through, until the cookies are light golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool the cookies about 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, remove the second dough square from the refrigerator to soften until just pliable but still cool and firm, about 15 minutes. Repeat the rolling, cutting, chilling and baking procedures with the second dough square.
• For the green royal icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the frosting thickens. The icing should be pure white and thick but not fluffy and bubbly. (If the frosting is overbeaten, it will get aerated, which makes it harder to work with. If this happens, let the frosting sit for a bit to settle, then use a rubber spatula to vigorously beat and smooth out the icing.) Add the green and red food coloring and beat until evenly distributed and the color is a deep hunter green. Put the icing in a resealable plastic bag and snip the corner to make a tiny opening (or put the icing in a piping bag with a 1/16-inch tip).
• To decorate: Pipe a dot of icing onto the top point of each tree. Stick a chocolate nonpareil candy on each dot. Pipe the icing onto the cookies in zigzags to make a tree design. Sprinkle white nonpareils around the icing as snow. Let the icing set at room temperature, at least 1 hour.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. In another bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Shape into a disk; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 4-in. Christmas light-shaped cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes or until light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a small bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and enough water to reach desired consistency. Reserve 2/3 cup frosting for bottom of cookies and reflections. Divide remaining frosting between four bowls. Tint one red, one blue, one green and one yellow. Frost tops of cookies. If desired, sprinkle with colored sugar. Tint half of the reserved frosting gray; frost bottom of cookies. With remaining white frosting and a #5 round tip, pipe on reflections. Let stand until completely set., To Make Ahead: Dough can be made 2 days in advance. Wrap and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator., Freeze option: Freeze undecorated cookies in freezer containers. To use, thaw in covered containers and decorate as desired.

CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix confectioners' sugar, butter or margarine, egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Stir in flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide dough into halves. On lightly floured cloth-covered board, roll each half out to 3/16 inch thick. on lightly floured cloth-covered board. Cut into Christmas shapes.
• Bake on parchment lined baking sheets for 7 to 8 minutes. Let cool on wire racks and decorate as desired.

CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well., Divide dough in half. Tint half of the dough green; knead well to distribute color evenly. Leave remaining dough white. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle., On a lightly floured surface, roll out each portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Use tree-shaped cookie cutters with identical shapes, measuring 21/2 in., 3 in., 4 in. and 41/2 in. Cut out an even number of cookies with each size cookie cutter., Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately cut half of each size tree cookies in half from top to bottom. If tree cookie cutters have trunks, trim trunks off trees, creating a flat base. Remove to wire racks to cool., For frosting, in a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, water, meringue powder, vanilla and cream of tartar. Beat on high speed for 8-10 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Divide frosting in half. Tint half of the frosting green; leave remaining frosting white. Cover frosting with damp paper towels or plastic wrap between uses., To glaze trees: In a small bowl, thin 1 cup green frosting with 2-3 Tbsp. water until frosting reaches pourable consistency. Place matching pairs of whole and halved cookies on a wire rack over waxed paper. Pour icing over cookies; spread with a metal spatula to completely cover top and sides of cookies. Let dry completely. Assemble and decorate as desired. , To make a four-sided tree: Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or resealable plastic bag; insert round pastry tip #5. Fill with green or white frosting to match the tree you are decorating. Pipe a line of frosting along the cut edge of one of the halved cookies; press frosted edge along center of a matching whole cookie. Let dry until firm.Stand up partially assembled tree. Attach one matching cookie half to the opposite side of the tree by piping frosting along the center of the whole cookie. Let dry completely. Decorate as desired., To make an eight-sided tree: Assemble as described for four-sided tree, using white or green cookies. Using matching colored frosting, attach four more cookie halves; halves should be one half-size smaller than whole center cookie. Let dry completely. Decorate as desired., To make Christmas lights decoration: Using a pastry or resealable plastic bag, round pastry tip #2 and green frosting, pipe cords. Attach sprinkles for lights. Let dry completely. , To make snow-tipped decoration: Using a pastry or resealable plastic bag, large round pastry tip #8 and white frosting, pipe snow on tips of branches. Sprinkle with edible glitter. Let dry completely., To make garland decoration: Using a pastry or resealable plastic bag, medium star pastry tip #21 and either white or green frosting, pipe garlands around trees. Decorate with sprinkles if desired. Let dry completely.

OMBRE CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIES

Steps:

• Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Generously flour a rolling pin and work surface. Working with 1 disc at a time, roll dough to 1/4" thick. Cut out as many cookies as possible with cookie cutters (if dough becomes too soft, chill until firm). Place cookies 1/2" apart on prepared baking sheets. Chill 15 minutes.
• Bake cookies until edges are light golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.
• Using small offset spatula, frost trees with icing. While still wet, decorate each cookie in 3 sections to create an ombre effect-start by covering bottom third with darkest green sanding sugar. Sprinkle the medium green shade in the center, then the light green shade over the top third. Tap cookie lightly to remove excess sprinkles. Top tips of trees with gold dragees to look like a tree topper. Let icing dry before storing cookies, about 3 hours.
• Cookies can be made 10 days ahead; store in an airtight container at room temperature.

TARTAN CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325&;deg;F. Using electric mixer, beat unsalted butter in large bowl until light. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla extract. Add flour and salt and mix just until combined. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap disk in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.
• Roll out dough on floured work surface to 1/8-inch thickness, frequently lifting and turning dough to prevent sticking. Using 5-inch Christmas tree cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Gather dough scraps together. Repeat rolling and cutting dough scraps to make 10 cookies total. Transfer cookies to 2 heavy large baking sheets, spacing apart. Bake until cookies begin to brown around edges, about 15 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely.
• Melt chocolate in top of double boiler over simmering water, stirring until smooth. Divide melted chocolate among 3 small bowls. Working quickly so that chocolate does not harden, mix 8 drops blue food coloring into 1 bowl. Spread blue chocolate evenly over surface of cookies. Mix 8 drops green food coloring into second bowl of melted chocolate. Mix 8 drops red food coloring into third bowl of melted chocolate. Spoon green chocolate into plastic bag. Cut off 1 bottom tip of bag to allow small ribbon of chocolate to come out. Repeat procedure with pink chocolate and another plastic bag.
• Using green chocolate, pipe 4 diagonal lines from left to right across cookies, spacing evenly. Using pink chocolate, pipe 4 diagonal lines from left to right across cookies, alongside green lines. Repeat with diagonal lines going from right to left. Let cookies stand until chocolate sets, about 2 hours. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Store cookies between sheets of waxed paper in airtight container at room temperature.)

CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Tint dough with food color as desired. Shape dough into 2 disks, and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Roll out 1 disk on a lightly floured piece of parchment to a 1/8- to 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat with remaining disk. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Using a tree cutter, cut out trees. Using a #12 Ateco pastry tip, cut out ornaments within trees. Working with dough in a contrasting color, use the same rectangular cutter to cut out puzzle pieces that fit within cutouts. Transfer all shapes and pieces to parchment-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Fit puzzle pieces into cookies. Refrigerate 30 minutes more.
• Bake until cookies are firm, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks; let cool completely.

RETRO TINSEL CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, flour, melted butter and egg until soft dough forms.
• On floured surface, roll dough 1/4 inch thick. Cut with 3-inch tree-shaped cookie cutter; place cutouts 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.
• In large microwavable bowl, stir 1 1/4 cups frosting and the food color until blended. Microwave uncovered 25 to 30 seconds or until warmed and thinner consistency. Dip top side of each cookie into glaze, letting excess drip off. Place cookie right side up on cooling rack placed over cookie sheet or waxed paper. Rewarm frosting mixture in microwave to maintain dipping consistency, if needed. If desired, place 1 chocolate candy on top of each tree. Let stand about 2 hours or until set. Store covered in airtight container at room temperature with waxed paper between layers.