Slice ‘n’ Bake Christmas Tree Cookies
Slice ‘n’ Bake Christmas Tree Cookies are soft, sweet and buttery sugar cookies with a bright green Christmas tree in the middle.
Aren’t they cute! And they’re fairly simple to make.
I got to use my new mixer for the first time with this recipe. My husband gave it to me for my birthday last week. My birthday this year was not one I’d like to remember. I slipped and fell on our icy driveway, had to go to urgent care and ended up with a contusion on my elbow. But I did get this awesome mixer, so that was a good thing.
Beat the butter and sugar on medium for 3 minutes and you get this beautiful fluffy consistency.
Then you add the egg, flavorings and your flour, baking powder mixture. Mix until a dough forms like this.
Divide the dough in thirds. Keep two thirds plain and color the other third green. I like Wilton brand food coloring because it’s very concentrated. Use a 1-inch Christmas tree cookie cutter. Mine was also Wilton brand. I rolled the dough out to be about 1/2-inch thick.
Line up your trees in 3 rows.
Divide the non-colored dough into thirds. Place it around the stacks of trees. I found it worked best to roll long, narrow ropes of dough and place around trees that way.
Roll the logs of dough in sprinkles. It’s sort of messy but I think it looks so cute. Then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours.
Now the easy part. Slice and bake.
They’re so good and I’ll bet Santa would love them. My son is definitely a fan of these adorable Slice ‘n’ Bake Christmas Tree Cookies!
Merry Christmas and Happy Baking!
Tools for success
Americolor Food Coloring Gel Set of 6 (includes green)
Note: The above items are affiliate links.
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Slice ‘n’ Bake Christmas Tree Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, 415g
- 2 teaspoons baking powder, 10g
- 1 cup granulated sugar, 210g
- 8 ounces unsalted butter, softened, 226g (2 sticks)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- green food coloring, I used Wilton brand
- sprinkles
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Set aside. Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl. With an electric mixer, beat on medium for 3 minutes. Add egg, vanilla and almond. Mix until combined. With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients. Mix on medium until a dough forms. Divide dough into thirds. Keep two thirds plain and color the other third green. I found it easiest to incorporate the color by kneading the dough with my hands.
- Roll the green dough to about 1/2-inch thick. Using a 1-inch tree cookie cutter, cut as many trees as you can. Combine the scraps and roll again. Cut more trees. Repeat. Stack the trees together in 3 rows.
- Take the remaining plain dough and divide into thirds. Divide each third into smaller pieces that you roll out into narrow ropes of dough. Place the ropes around the trees. You will end up with 3 logs of dough. Roll each log in sprinkles, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for two hours or overnight.
- Once chilled, slice 1/4-inch thick cookies and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350°F. for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake. Let cool. Serve immediately or store covered for up to 1 week. They will also freeze well for longer life.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Please let us know by leaving a star rating and review!You might also like Ugly Sweater Christmas Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
You also might like this vintage recipe: Mary’s Sugar Cookies! They are my favorite Christmas cookies of all time and fairly easy to make.
All text and images © Lise Ode for Mom Loves Baking. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be accurate. This post may contain affiliate links.
I made these and my cookie dough is so dry, not sure what went amiss here but too crumbly
Suggestion for cooking these if frozen. I would like to make these now and not cook until Dec.
Thanks!
Can a hand mixer be used if you don’t have a counter top mixer?
Do we need a pinch of salt? They are baking right now and can’t wait to try them!! Christmas tree shapes didn’t hold up well but they look good and were easy to make! Thank you!
No pinch of salt needed…
For the better, 8 ounces is one stick of butter but you’re directions say 8 ounces softened two sticks of butter. Please clarify
Hello Carolyn, Thank you for asking, in the U.S. most store bought sticks of butter are 4 ounces. There are usually 4 sticks per package for a total of 16 ounces. So it is not a typo. Recipe uses 8 ounces of butter OR 2 (4 oz.) sticks. Happy Baking!
For those curious about the small cookie cutter, I found a set of small Christmas cutters at Michaels. Perfect size for when I try these cookies! So cute!
Could the almond extract be left out or substituted with something else? I’ve got a child with a nut allergy.
Of course, you could use vanilla extract instead.
I used Wilton brand and ordered them online through Amazon.com. You also might be able to find them at your local craft store.
Where can I buy an inch cookie cutter.
Loved this – shame Christmas is over but have pinned for next year. Might try it with some other design in the middle a flower, star etc.