Easy 3D Christmas tree cookies
A delightful and easy recipe for 3D Christmas Tree Cookies. These festive treats are made by baking simple old-fashioned sugar cookies in three graduated sizes, stacking them with vibrant green cream cheese frosting, and topping each with a gold star sprinkle for a standout holiday dessert that’s perfect for parties or gifting.
Create these easy 3D Christmas Tree Cookies for a fun and festive twist on a classic! This old-fashioned sugar cookie recipe turns out the cutest stacked Christmas tree shapes, topped with a bright candy star. These delightful cookie trees elevate traditional sugar cookies to a whole new level of holiday charm. While we’ve always loved making classic Christmas sugar cookies, these 3D versions have quickly become our most popular treat!
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You can easily create these festive Christmas Tree Cookies by baking a batch of classic old-fashioned sugar cookies in three different sizes—large, medium, and small. Once cooled, stack them from biggest to smallest to build adorable 3D tree shapes, using generous swirls of green frosting between each layer to hold them together. Top it all off with a sparkling candy star sprinkle for the perfect finishing touch!
Christmas Tree Sugar Cookie Recipe:
Cookie Dough Ingredients:
- 2 ¾ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup butter
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Frosting Ingredients:
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup butter
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 drops green gel food coloring
- Gold Star Sprinkles
Equipment Needed:
- Cake Decorator or Piping Bag with Star Frosting Tip
- Mixing Bowls
- Mixer
- Three Different Sized Cookie Scoops
- Baking Sheets
- Wire Cooling Racks
🥣 Recipe Tips
- Chill the dough for easier handling: After mixing the sugar cookie dough, refrigerate it for 30-60 minutes before scooping. This prevents spreading during baking, helping the cookies maintain distinct sizes and shapes for better stacking.
- Pipe the frosting in a spiral pattern: When stacking, start piping the green cream cheese frosting from the center of each cookie and spiral outward with a star tip. This creates a more tree-like texture and provides stronger “glue” to hold the layers securely without sliding.
- Bake in batches by size: Scoop and bake the large, medium, and small cookies on separate sheets if possible, as smaller ones may finish baking a minute or two sooner. This ensures even golden edges without overbaking the tiniest tops.
How to make 3D Christmas tree sugar cookies:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then set the mixture aside.
- In a larger mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), cream the softened butter and sugar together on medium speed, beating until the mixture is light, fluffy, and pale in color—about 2-3 minutes.
- Next, add the eggs and vanilla extract to the creamed butter-sugar mixture. Beat on medium speed until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Gradually add the reserved dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until everything comes together and a smooth cookie dough forms—be careful not to over mix.
- To portion the dough, use three different-sized cookie scoops to form balls in graduated sizes: large (about 1.5 inches wide for the base), medium, and small.
- Scoop out sets of one large, one medium, and one small ball for each Christmas tree cookie you’ll assemble.
- Place the dough balls on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, spacing them a few inches apart.
- Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 5-7 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and the bottoms are set.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer them to wire cooling racks to cool completely while you prepare the green cream cheese frosting.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and a few drops of green gel food coloring.
- Beat on medium speed until smooth and well blended.
- Gradually add the powdered sugar in increments, mixing thoroughly after each addition to achieve a fluffy, pipeable consistency.
- If needed, add more green gel food coloring, a drop or two at a time, until you reach your desired vibrant shade of green. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a star tip for easy assembly.
Stacking the 3d Christmas cookies:
- To assemble your Christmas tree cookies, fit a piping bag with a star tip (or use a cake decorator tool).
- Pipe a small swirl of green frosting onto the center of the largest cookie, then gently press the medium-sized cookie on top, centering it carefully.
- Add another swirl of frosting to the top of the medium cookie, and place the smallest cookie on that. (The star tip will create a beautiful, tree-like texture with each layer)
- Finish each cookie tree by adding a generous dollop of green frosting to the top of the smallest cookie, then gently press a gold star sprinkle (or yellow candy star) into place to create the perfect tree topper.
This recipe yields approximately 18 to 24 complete Christmas tree cookies, depending on the size of your cookie scoops and how many sets you portion out.
These delightful 3D Christmas Tree Cookies offer a fun and effortless way to elevate classic sugar cookies into a charming holiday centerpiece. Ideal for parties, gifting, or sharing with family and friends, they’re bound to become a beloved new tradition—happy baking!
Over the years, we’ve experimented with all sorts of Christmas tree sugar cookie ideas, but these stacked 3D versions are by far our top favorite, and we have a feeling they’ll quickly win you over too! Who could possibly resist such cute, edible little Christmas trees? Wasn’t this a wonderfully simple and creative way to turn old-fashioned sugar cookies into festive holiday magic?
🥣 Recipe
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 ¾ cup flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 cup butter
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
Frosting
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- ½ cup butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 drops green gel food coloring
- Gold Star Sprinkles
- Cake decorator or piping bag with star frosting tip
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then set the mixture aside.
- In a larger mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), cream the softened butter and sugar together on medium speed, beating until the mixture is light, fluffy, and pale in color—about 2-3 minutes.
- Next, add the eggs and vanilla extract to the creamed butter-sugar mixture. Beat on medium speed until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Gradually add the reserved dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until everything comes together and a smooth cookie dough forms—be careful not to over mix.
- Add egg and vanilla, mix until just combined. Stir in flour mixture and blend well.
- To portion the dough, use three different-sized cookie scoops to form balls in graduated sizes: large (about 1.5 inches wide for the base), medium, and small.
- Scoop out sets of one large, one medium, and one small ball for each Christmas tree cookie you’ll assemble.Place the dough balls on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, spacing them a few inches apart.
- Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 5-7 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and the bottoms are set.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer them to wire cooling racks to cool completely while you prepare the green cream cheese frosting.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and a few drops of green gel food coloring.
- Beat on medium speed until smooth and well blended.Gradually add the powdered sugar in increments, mixing thoroughly after each addition to achieve a fluffy, pipeable consistency.
- If needed, add more green gel food coloring, a drop or two at a time, until you reach your desired vibrant shade of green. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a star tip for easy assembly.
- Pipe a small swirl of green frosting onto the center of the largest cookie, then gently press the medium-sized cookie on top, centering it carefully.
- Add another swirl of frosting to the top of the medium cookie, and place the smallest cookie on that. (The star tip will create a beautiful, tree-like texture with each layer)
- Finish each cookie tree by adding a generous dollop of green frosting to the top of the smallest cookie, then gently press a gold star sprinkle (or yellow candy star) into place to create the perfect tree topper.
Notes
Nutrition
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