Megs grew up eating the basis of this cookie, and making it with her mom. Over time, it has evolved into a few other incarnations. Candy Canes and Angels are included elsewhere on the site, but we also make this basic recipe in any shape and color. And we almost always have some in the freezer for snacking on (raw or cooked ;-) ).
CourseCookies
Keywordchristmas cookie, christmas tradition
Equipment
Mini Christmas Tree Cookie Cutter
Rolling Pin
Ingredients
1cupsoftened, salted full-fat butter225g
2/3cupgranulated sugar
2large eggs
1tspvanilla extract(powder works, too)
1/2tspalmond extract
green food coloringoptional
1/2tspbaking powder
2 1/2cupsall-purpose flourT65 in France
saunf (candied fennel)optional
Instructions
Carefully soften butter in microwave if not very soft, careful not to let it melt. Mix butter and sugar on high until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla and almond extract and beat on high until fluffy.
If using, add a few drops of food coloring to desired color (mindful that you may want to make it a bit darker than desired because the flour will lighten the color some).
While mixing at medium speed, add baking powder and the flour in 1/2 cup increments, just to combine. Do not over mix.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and chill for at least an hour. This will help the dough and also make it easier to handle. Dough keeps in the fridge for a few days, or roll into 1.5 inch diameter logs and freeze, for slice and bake!
When beginning to roll cookies, preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper (or leave ungreased if not using paper).
Roll out with a bit of flour to about 1/3 inch thick and cut with mini Christmas tree cookie cutter. Transfer to the prepared cookie sheets leaving a bit of gap between them because they will expand a bit. When the tray is full, add a few pieces of saunf on each tree.
Cook for 5-6 minutes or until they just begin to crack slightly on the top. That will keep them nice and soft.
Cool on the pan for a minute, then transfer directly to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
France notes: Many websites tell you to use T55 type flour in France as an equivalent to all-purpose flour for American baking, but thanks to also following David Lebovitz, we weren't convinced. Our first cookie party in Paris offered a great opportunity for a test, since we always make two batches of this recipe (one for green trees with sounf and one for red angels). In our test, we found that T65 was better, but that you sometimes need a tad less to get the consistency you want. When using T55, we had to add more to get the similar consistency. Next time we should weigh it as well, because that would be a better comparison. But the bottom line is that this convinced us that we agreed with Monsieur Lebovitz and only used T65 for our American baking.