Best Gingerbread Christmas Tree Recipes

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GINGERBREAD CHRISTMAS TREE SANDWICH COOKIES



Gingerbread Christmas Tree Sandwich Cookies image

These spicy gingerbread sandwich cookies get their kick from black pepper and cayenne in the dough. The cream cheese frosting works double time -- as a filling it mellows the ginger kick just enough, and it decorates the tops of the cookies, too.

Provided by Food Network Kitchen

Categories     dessert

Time 3h40m

Yield 10 to 11 sandwich cookies

Number Of Ingredients 20

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and rolling (see Cook's Note)
3 tablespoons ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fine salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup molasses
1 large egg
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Green and red miniature candy-coated chocolates, such as M and M's, for decorating
Pretzel sticks, for decorating

Steps:

  • For the cookie dough: Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, salt, baking soda, allspice, nutmeg, cayenne and baking powder in a medium bowl.
  • Beat the granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the molasses until combined, then the egg (the mixture might look curdled). Add the flour mixture and mix on low until the dough comes together. Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a disk and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
  • Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Keeping one dough disk refrigerated, roll the other on a well-floured work surface to 1/4 inch thick, sprinkling flour on and under the dough as needed and sliding a spatula underneath every so often to prevent sticking (if the dough looks crackly or breaks apart, press it back together from the outside edge in). Use a 3 1/2-inch-wide by 3 3/4-inch-tall Christmas tree cookie cutter to cut out trees as close together as possible. Pull away the extra dough around each shape, then use a small offset spatula to transfer the trees to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 1/2 inch apart (they will not spread much during baking). Reroll the scraps and cut out more cookies. Repeat this process with the remaining dough disk to make about 22 total. Freeze the cookies until firm, about 15 minutes.
  • Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
  • Bake, rotating the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through cooking, until the cookies are slightly firm to the touch but not browned at the edges, about 12 minutes. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes. The cookies will continue to firm as they cool.
  • For the filling: Beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners' sugar and salt and mix until smooth and creamy. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (size 6).
  • For the add-ins: Pipe frosting in the style of a garland on half of the cookies. Lightly press the candy-coated chocolates into the frosting garlands. Cut the pretzel sticks to the same length as the cookie tree trunks. Pipe a small amount of frosting onto the trunks, then press pretzel stick pieces into the frosting. Turn the remaining cookies over (bottom-side up) and pipe frosting onto each. Top each with a decorated cookie and serve immediately.

GINGERBREAD CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIES



GINGERBREAD CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIES image

Yield 30 2 cookies

Number Of Ingredients 17

3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
1/3 cup dark molasses
3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
For the Icing:
1 1/2 tbsp egg whites, room temperature
1/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup powdered sugar
5 to 6 drops green food coloring
colored sprinkles

Steps:

  • For the cookies: In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar and applesauce until smooth. Add the egg and molasses, mix well. In another large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and spices. Add to sugar and molasses mixture, stirring well. Divide the dough into two flat balls; cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously dust the surface of your working area with flour before rolling out the dough. Work with one ball of dough at a time, keep the other refrigerated while you do so. Roll the dough out to 1/4 or 1/8-inch thickness, sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough if it's a little sticky. Trim the uneven edges off to square the dough, then using a knife cut the dough into 3 1/2 inch strips. Then cut the strips into triangles. For the icing: Mix the egg whites with lemon juice. Combine with powdered sugar, mixing well then add a few drops of green food coloring until you get the color you desire. If the icing is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar, if it's too thick add a drop of lemon juice or water. Transfer to a piping bag to decorate cookies when cookies are cooled. To decorate, pipe the cookies with the frosting one at a time, quickly adding the sprinkles before it hardens.

GINGERBREAD CHRISTMAS TREE



Gingerbread Christmas Tree image

Make and share this Gingerbread Christmas Tree recipe from Food.com.

Provided by Missy Wombat

Categories     Candy

Time 55m

Yield 1 tree

Number Of Ingredients 13

500 g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1 pinch salt
150 g unsalted butter, softened
175 g dark brown sugar
150 g honey
1 egg
1 egg white
240 g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra, for dusting
silver cachous, to decorate

Steps:

  • Preheat the oven to 180 deg Celsius.
  • sift flour, baking powder and soda, spices and a pinch of salt into a bowl.
  • Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add honey and egg. Beat until combined.
  • On low speed, beat in sifted dry ingredients until mixture comes together.
  • Divide the dough in half. Wrap separately in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  • Trace 19 cm, 15 cm, 10 cm, 7.5 cm and 4.5 cm stars on to cardboard and cut out. For the 2 smaller sizes cutters may able to used.
  • Roll out dough halves until 4 mm thick. Using star templates and 7.5 cm cutter, cut out 3 stars of each size from dough. Using the 4.5 cm star, cut out as many stars as possible from the remaining dough.
  • Place same sized stars together, 3 cm apart, on baking paper-lined oven trays. Bake larger stars for 8-10 minutes; smaller stars for 5-7 minutes or until deep golden. Stand biscuits for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
  • Place eggwhite in a bowl. Stir in icing sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, until combined.
  • Stack the largest stars at offset angles, placing 2-3, 4.5 cm stars in between. Glue each layer with icing.
  • Continue stacking in decreasing size until all 7.5 cm stars are used. Finish with one 4.5 cm star flat and a second one upright. Use icing as 'glue' to decorate tree with cachous.
  • Tie up remaining small stars to look like gifts. Leave tree to set for one hour. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 5517.2, Fat 132.9, SaturatedFat 79.7, Cholesterol 508.5, Sodium 1992.9, Carbohydrate 1018, Fiber 18.2, Sugar 530.1, Protein 77

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