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.
Tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!
PrintEasy Christmas Tree Cookies
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 15 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
These cute Christmas tree cookies are frosted with fluffy buttercream couldn’t be easier for a festive holiday treat!
Ingredients
Cake box cookies
1 vanilla boxed cake mix
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Best Ever Vanilla Buttercream
2 sticks softened unsalted sweet cream butter
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Green gel food coloring
Christmas Sprinkles
Tootsie rolls
Instructions
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, vanilla and oil until well blended. Scrape down the sides of bowl once while mixing.
Scoop out the cookie dough onto a prepared cookie sheet using a cookie scoop with release and bake cookies 10-12 minutes.
Let the cookies cool on the pan for five minutes and then transfer to a wire rack for cooling. Let cool completely before frosting
To make the buttercream
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.
To Frost:
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.
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