And we’re back with more cookies! ‘Tis this season! I had so many new recipes this year. It was hard to decide what to make, but these have always been high on my list! Inspired by the Trader Joe’s Decked Out Tree Cookies, I wanted to make my own homemade Christmas tree sugar cookies version. I knew I could make them so delicious and have fun with the shapes + decorating too! I love how these turned out. They ended up being a really easy way to make festive holiday, Pinterest worthy cookies. And DELICIOUS cookies, too; we love the chocolate centers. The best part is that we don’t have to mess around with any frosting! Just melted chocolate and sprinkles are all you need! I used my very favorite vanilla brown sugar cookie recipe for the sugar cookies. The centers of each cookie are stuffed with melted chocolate – use either milk or semi-sweet – so yummy! For decorating, I ended up dipping the cookies in melted white chocolate and then adding a few holiday sprinkles for fun. These would be great for younger kids to decorate over Christmas break! Of course, they’ll be eating them as they decorate!
Here are all the details
Step 1: make the cookie dough Beat the butter with the brown sugar and vanilla bean powder. You’ll want to beat for at least a minute to really infuse the butter with the vanilla flavor. Next, add an egg and all the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt. There’s absolutely nothing fancy here. If you don’t want your cookies to spread at all, I would omit the baking soda. You can see my cookies did spread a little. But I do think the cookies taste yummier with baking soda, so I didn’t mind. I think they’re perfectly imperfect! Step 2: Roll the dough out Whenever I make any kind of cut-out cookie, I always like to roll out the dough, cut the cookies, and then freeze the cut cookies on a baking sheet for a few minutes. This ensures that the cookies hold their shape. I used a Christmas tree cookie cutter and snowflakes to cut my cookies. Then, for the cutouts, I used smaller trees and smaller snowflakes. If you don’t have small cookie cutters, don’t stress! All you need to do is take a small pairing knife and cut out a 1-inch triangle from half of the tree cookies. If you make snowflakes, cut out a small circle from half of the cookies. They’ll be great, cookie cutters or no cookie cutters. Step 3: Freeze and bake Freeze the cookies in a single layer for 20 minutes, then bake for 8-10 minutes until the cookies turn light golden on the edges. Let the cookies cool before spreading with chocolate. Step 4: the chocolate Melt semi-sweet or milk chocolate in the microwave, then spread a small amount, about 2 teaspoons, over the bottom cookie (this is the cookie with no hole). Place the top cookie (the cookie with a hole) over the chocolate. Sandwich the cookies together. The melted chocolate will push up through the hole of each cookie. It always turns out cute! Step 5: decorate. It’s easy! Now, this is certainly the fun part – decorating. I used melted white chocolate and drizzled it over each cookie. Then I did a light sprinkling of assorted holiday sprinkles (mine are from Target). Once the chocolate has hardened, you can package these up for gifting. Or simply eat and enjoy with family and friends. They’re really such a fun and delicious cookie to make this holiday season! Anything with holiday sprinkles will always be cute! Asher wasn’t around when I made these, so I can’t wait to make them again soon with her. She and Oslo are going to love them! They’re the perfect Christmas cookie to make with kids! Looking for other Christmas cookies? Here are my favorites: Vanilla Brown Sugar Eggnog Cookies Vanilla Hot Chocolate Molten Cookies Holly Jolly Santa Cookies Vanilla Ginger Shortbread Wreaths The Santa Clause Cookies Easy Vanilla Bean Christmas Lights Cookies Lastly, if you make these easy Decked Out Christmas Tree Cookies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
