Easy Christmas Tree Cookies

These cute Christmas tree cookies are frosted with fluffy buttercream couldn’t be easier for a festive holiday treat!

Why we love these easy Christmas Tree Cookies

These quick and easy Christmas tree cookies are made with boxed cake mix and fluffy buttercream and take just 15 minutes! The Christmas trees are a simple design is one anyone can make!

Key Ingredients for this fun Christmas tree cookie recipe

Vanilla Boxed cake mix

You may choose your favorite boxed cake mix. My go-to is Betty Crocker’s Super Moist French Vanilla cake mix

Eggs

Use large, room temperature eggs

Vegetable Oil

Vegetable oil or canola oil would work for these Christmas Tree Cookies. Any oil without a strong flavor is fine.

Butter

Make sure your butter is softened before making the buttercream

Confectioners’ sugar

You can sift the confectioners’ sugar or powdered sugar before making the buttercream, but it’s not entirely necessary

Vanilla Extract

Milk

Milk adds the perfect amount of moisture to the buttercream.

Tootsie Roll

Sliced tootsie rolls are used for the trunk of the Christmas tree for these tasty christmas tree cookies

Christmas Sprinkles

Any Christmas themed sprinkles will work for this holiday cookie. These are my favorite! You could also top the trees with edible glitter

Step By Step Instructions To Make These Easy Christmas Tree Cookies

Heat oven to 350 F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Then in a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the cake mix, eggs and oil until well blended. Alternatively, you can do this step in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mixing ingredients on low until combined. Scrape down the sides of bowl once while mixing.

Once your dough has formed, scoop out the cookie dough onto a prepared cookie sheet using a cookie scoop with release and bake cookies until the edges are golden. Let the cookies cool on the pan for five minutes and then transfer to a wire rack for cooling. Let cool completely before frosting

While the cookies are cooling, combine sifted powdered sugar, softened butter and milk in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat butter, powdered sugar and milk on low speed for 30 seconds and then high speed for 5 minutes. Add vanilla and turn mixer to low and mix for another 30 seconds.

To make the green icing, scoop out 1/2 cup of buttercream into a small bowl and using a toothpick, scoop out a tip full of leaf green gel food coloring and add it to the buttercream. Mix with a rubber spatula until desired color is reached. Reserve the rest of the buttercream uncolored.

Place a coupler and an Ateco 18 tip in a piping bag. Scoop the green buttercream in the piping bag and set aside.

Place the uncolored buttercream in another piping bag with a large round tip or just snip off the end (about the 1/2″ up the bottom of the bag)

Using the uncolored buttercream, pipe a spiral around the circumference of the cookie, starting in the middle until you reach the edge of the cookie.

Using the piping bag with green color buttercream, create a Christmas tree shape but piping a zig-zag vertically up the middle of the white buttercream, narrowing at the top, and leaving room for the tree trunks at the bottom.

Cut a tootsie roll horizontally in 1/4″ pieces and use that as the stump on each of your Christmas tree shapes.

Sprinkle the green buttercream tree with your Christmas sprinkles., adding a gold sugar pearl sprinkle or star at the top of each tree.

Additional Recipes to Try

I hope you had so much fun making this easy cookie! Here are some other fun holiday recipes:

Chewy Molasses cookies – Filled with warm winter spices, these molasses cookies are perfect for the holiday season!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies – Your favorite sandwich from childhood in cookie form!

Ginger Spice Rum Balls – These Ginger Spice Rum Balls are the ultimate sweet, no-bake adult cookies! Perfect for holiday parties!

FAQ and Expert Tips

Storing cookies: These cookies can be left at room temperature for up to 5 days in an airtight container.

Use room temperature butter. Make sure butter is soft before making the buttercream. Cold butter will result in lumpy buttercream.

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