3D Christmas Tree Cookies

 December 25: Christmas

Islander had been naughty NICE all year long that Santa stuffed a 3D Christmas tree cookie cutter in her stocking one year! The specialty cutter from Sweet Creations brand may be found on eBay and Amazon.

Without any expectations in return, she made these 3D Christmas tree cookies just to share her joy of baking and we delivered the sweet treats to her brother’s communities of priests and religious for their happy holy-days dessert. In exchange, they prayed for us and gave their blessings—a wonderful gift in itself!

“For it is in giving that we receive….”

St. Francis of Assisi

Highlander and Islander wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Recipe

 Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla or almond extract
• 3 cups flour (all purpose white)
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Green food coloring
• fondant (white and red—or other colors)
• edible gold dust

Directions

In a bowl, mix the butter with sugar until creamy. Beat in the egg and milk. Add the vanilla or almond extract.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture into the other ingredients and blend well to form a dough. Tint with green food coloring and mix well.

Divide dough in thirds and roll into a ball. Then flatten each ball into a disc and place between sheets of waxed or parchment paper. Roll out to about ¼-inch thick (we used ¼-inch thick acrylic sticks as guides). Stack them on a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm (about 30-45 minutes). They may also be frozen for 15-20 minutes. Take one stack of flattened dough out of the refrigerator or freezer. Peel away both front and back to loosen, leaving the dough on one sheet of the waxed or parchment paper. Cut out the Christmas tree shapes.

Place on foil-lined greased cookie pan about 1 ½ – 2 inches apart. Refrigerate the cookie pan. Re-roll scraps of dough and cut more shapes, refrigerating if the dough gets too soft. The dough needs to be cold and firm in order to retain its Christmas tree shape. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until the sides are very lightly browned. Remove from the oven when done and let sit on the pan for about five minutes. Transfer each cookie on a wire rack to cool completely.

Separate the top and bottom cookies. Then pair them up to see if the “notches” fit together. If the cookies spread and the “notches” are too wide for the pair of cookies to fit together when assembled, use a dull knife blade to carefully “shave” off the cookie “notches” until they are wide enough for the cookies to fit.

Disassemble the cookies. Roll out white fondant thinly (approximately 1/16 inch) and cut out ½ inch stars using a plunger cutter. Use a water brush to attach the fondant star to the cookie. Brush some gold dust on the star. Set aside.

Roll out red fondant thinly (approximately 1/16 inch). Cut out ¼ inch circles with a round piping tip. Use a water brush to attach the fondant circles to the cookie marks.

Transport the cookies separately/individually. When ready to serve, re-assemble the pairs of cookies on site. Arrange on a flat, festive platter.