Description
Create a festive Cookie Christmas Tree with these spiced cookies decorated with smooth royal icing. This recipe guides you through making tender gingerbread-style cookies, a royal icing for decorating, and assembling the cookies into a charming holiday centerpiece that's perfect for celebrating the season.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Cookies
- 110 g unsalted butter, soft, at room temperature
- 150 g granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 250 g all-purpose flour + more to dust the surface for rolling
For the Royal Icing Option 1
- 1 egg white or 30 g pasteurized egg white
- 200 g icing sugar
- Water (as needed to adjust consistency)
For the Royal Icing Option 2
- 150 g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder
- Water (as needed to adjust consistency)
Instructions
- Prepare the Cookie Dough: Use a whisk to beat the butter, sugar, and salt together until creamy. Add the egg and mix until fully incorporated. Then add the vanilla extract and spices, mixing well again.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Incorporate the flour and baking powder using a spatula. When mixing becomes difficult, knead slightly with your hands until combined.
- Chill the Dough: Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up for easier rolling.
- Roll and Cut Cookies: Allow the dough to come to room temperature if chilled longer than 30 minutes. Roll it out on a floured surface to 2–3 mm thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut various sizes, including sizes from 13 cm to 4 cm for layering and decoration.
- Arrange and Bake: Use a thin metal spatula to transfer cookies onto a non-stick baking tray or one lined with baking paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C / 350°F for 12 minutes or until edges are slightly golden.
- Cool Cookies: Let cookies cool completely on a wire rack before decorating to prevent royal icing from melting.
- Make Royal Icing Option 1: Beat egg whites with sifted icing sugar until combined. Adjust the consistency by adding a few drops of water or lemon juice if too hard, or more icing sugar if too loose, until icing holds shape without spreading excessively.
- Make Royal Icing Option 2: Mix icing sugar with meringue powder, adding water gradually to create a thick paste. Check texture as above, adjusting with additional water or icing sugar as needed.
- Prepare Icing for Decorating: Cover unused icing immediately with two layers of wet kitchen paper to prevent drying. Transfer icing to a piping bag fitted with a small nozzle for precise decorating.
- Decorate Cookies: Pipe a border line about 3 mm from the edges of each cookie. After letting the line dry for 5 minutes, add decorative dots around the perimeter. Use a toothpick to smooth and adjust icing as needed.
- Assemble the Christmas Tree: Let the decorated cookies dry for 10 minutes, then assemble by stacking and adhering the cookies with small dollops of royal icing. Allow the full tree assembly to dry for 30 minutes before moving.
- Add Snowy Effect: Optionally, dust the assembled cookie tree with icing sugar to resemble snow for a festive touch.
Notes
- If the dough is too cold or brittle, allow it to warm briefly to prevent cracking during rolling.
- Use a thin metal spatula for easier transferring of delicate cookies to prevent breakage.
- Adjust royal icing consistency carefully for best piping results—too runny icing will spread, too thick will be hard to pipe.
- Allow royal icing details to dry between steps to avoid colors and shapes blending.
- Store assembled cookie tree in a cool, dry place to maintain texture and decoration.
- Cookies can be made a day ahead and stored airtight before decorating to save time.
- Pasteurized egg whites are recommended for safety if using raw egg in icing.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 assembled cookie tree
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 35 g
- Sodium: 250 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 55 mg
