Photo courtesy of Oxmoor House
 

GINGERBREAD CHRISTMAS TREES

Work with a small bowl of warm water nearby to clean up sticky fingers.

Hands-on time: 45 minutes Total time: 3 hours 45 minutes 
Makes 12 cookies

1 (17.5-ounce) pouch gingerbread cookie mix
4 ounces butter, softened
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
Plastic wrap
1 (12-ounce) container ready-to-spread vanilla frosting
½ teaspoon green food coloring paste
¼ cup chocolate frosting
1 (4.25-ounce) tube white decorating icing
Light bulb-shaped candy sprinkles
12 large yellow star-shaped candy sprinkles

 

1. Stir together the first 4 ingredients and 1 tablespoon water until a soft dough forms. Divide the dough in half. Wrap in plastic wrap; chill 2 hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Unwrap the dough. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, and roll half of dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with a floured 5-inch Christmas tree-shaped cookie cutter. Place the cutouts 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Repeat with remaining half of dough. Bake at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are set. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheets. Transfer to wire racks, and cool completely (about 20 minutes).

3. Stir together the vanilla frosting and green food coloring until blended. Spread on the cookies. Spread the chocolate frosting on the base of each cookie for the tree stump. With the white icing, starting at top, pipe thin, swooping lines to look like light strands. Decorate with light bulb candy sprinkles. Place a yellow star sprinkle at the top of each cookie. Let stand 30 minutes or until set.

Recipe courtesy of Christmas Cookie Swap by Oxmoor House.