Stacked Christmas Tree Cookie Recipe
Can we just stop and talk about how cute and festive these sugar cookies stacked in the form of little Christmas trees are? The cookie Christmas trees are soft, chewy, buttery, and will become an instant family favorite over the holidays. Coupled with the creamy buttercream frosting that’s tinted a festive green color for the season, as well as shiny metallic ball-shaped sprinkles to stand in as Christmas ornaments, these are the best tasting Christmas trees you’ll ever eat!
Plus, my stacked Christmas tree cookies are easy enough to make, even for novice bakers. That’s because you don’t need to roll out cookie dough and cut out the cookies. These are drop cookies so it saves a lot of time and effort! Christmas tree stacked cookies are super fun cookies to make with kids or grandkids. They may not look as “perfect” after little hands do the decorating, but the endearing factor will more than make up for it. Tip: If you need an easy no-bake Christmas treat and don’t have time to make these cookies, try making my loaded Christmas Puppy Chow instead!
Ingredients in Stacked Christmas Tree Cookies
For these festive Christmas tree sugar cookies, you’ll need the following common fridge and pantry ingredients: Cookies
Unsalted butter Confectioners’ sugar Vanilla extract Egg All-purpose flour Baking solda Salt
Buttercream Frosting
Unsalted butter Confectioners’ sugar Vanilla extract Salt Green food coloring
Garnishing
Yellow star sprinkles Silver and gold pearl-shaped sprinkles
How to Make Stacked Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies
Despite looking somewhat complicated, I promise that these soft and chewy sugar cookies are a cinch to make. Step 1: Beat the butter, then add the confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. Step 2: Add the egg and beat until combined.
Step 3: Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and beat to form a dough.
Step 4: Make 3 different sized balls of dough – one, two, and three teaspoons, respectively.
Step 5: Bake the small, medium, and large sized balls on Silpat baking mats. Note the with slightly varying baking times and see detailed instructions below in the recipe card. Step 6: Cool completely while you make the frosting.
How to Make Buttercream Frosting for Sugar Cookies
To create the cookie Christmas trees, you’ll need to make a homemade buttercream frosting. This helps stick the cookies together, plus it adds a pop of color to the sugar cookies!
Decorating Stacked Christmas Tree Cookies
Even if you’re not a cookie decorating pro, because I sure am not, these stacked Christmas tree cookies are not tricky at all. Simply do the following:
Can I Use Another Sugar Cookie Dough Recipe?
Recipes for sugar cookie dough are like chicken noodle soup. Many people have one, or one that’s been passed down in the family, and everyone thinks theirs is the best. If you fall into this category of bakers and want to use your favorite tried and true sugar cookie dough recipe, go for it. Adjust baking times as necessary of course. I have another recipe for Christmas Cut Out Sugar Cookies, which are crisper and crunchier than the sugar cookie base recipe I used for these stacked cookie Christmas trees. Both are wonderful and you can use that cookie base recipe for these Christmas tree cookies if that’s the style of sugar cookie that strikes your fancy.
Storing Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies
After they’ve been decorated, these Christmas tree cookies will keep airtight in the fridge for 1 to 2 weeks, although they will taste best the fresher they are. However, I don’t like to store cookies in the fridge and am fine with storing them airtight at room temp for up to 4 days. For me personally, the high quantity of sugar helps preserve the butter but store them however you’re most comfortable. If you plan to freeze the cookies, I would freeze the baked but undecorated cookies in an airtight container or ziptop bag. Frost them after thawing is my advice.
Tips for the Best Stacked Christmas Tree Cookies
Coloring the frosting: When you’re adding the green food coloring to the buttercream frosting, feel free to go as intense or pale as you like. Bright green frosting is so festive that no one will be able to resist the cookies. Sprinkle options: As the sprinkles go, I have a full baking cabinet of metallic sprinkles and tons of options since this is what I do. However, if you don’t, you really don’t need to buy anything special for the Christmas tree cookies. Use whatever red and green sprinkles you have on hand.
Adding the star on top: Don’t worry about the yellow star on top, either. Your cookies will look just as cute with another type of sprinkles or adornment. Another option would be to put a chocolate chip, a halved Rolo candy, a red or yellow M&M, or whatever you can find in your cupboards and pantry that you can repurpose. Baking the cookies: I recommend baking one sheet of cookies at a time, if possible. I know this can be a bit of a pain, but cookies bake more evenly and the results are the est when they’re baked one sheet at a time, and rotated halfway through. I don’t care how expensive or fancy your oven is (I have one of those), one sheet at a time on the center rack is always the way to go with cookies.
Enjoy!
More Cute Christmas Cookies:
25 Holiday Cookie Favorites – The tried-and-true favorites are all here! If you need a holiday cookie recipe, this collection has you covered!! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes!
Christmas Tree Cupcakes – Vanilla cupcakes are turned into festive Christmas trees with the help of inverted ice cream cones that are decorated with green whipped cream! An no-mixer, one-bowl cupcake recipe that’s so EASY! Perfect on your holiday dessert table or served at your next Christmas party. Detailed instructions provided to help make these Christmas tree cupcakes suitable for even novice bakers.
Christmas Cut Out Cookies — These traditional cut out sugar cookies are just like Grandma used to make!! They’re thin but still soft, topped with a simple 2-ingredient royal icing, and loaded with sprinkles! So festive and perfect for cookie exchanges or hostess gifts!! Soft and Chewy M&M’s Chocolate Chip Cookies – If you’re looking for a new M&M cookie recipe, this is THE ONE! Soft, buttery, and irresistible!!
Soft Frosted Holiday Sprinkles Cookies – Tender, buttery cookies topped with cream cheese frosting and loaded with sprinkles! Easy, no-roll holiday cookies that everyone goes crazy for!
Ritz Cookies (No-Bake Christmas Cookies) — If you need a ridiculously easy, no-bake dessert for a party, holiday cookie exchange, or just have a spur of the moment craving for chocolate and peanut butter, these Ritz cookies are perfect!
Santa’s Kitchen Sink Cookies — Santa and everyone else won’t be able to resist these AMAZING cookies loaded with everything but the kitchen sink!! EASY, festive, salty-sweet treats with a FUN ingredients list!
