Recipes

Gingerbread Christmas Cookie Trees

Ingredients:

• 3 cups (375g) All-Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Ground Cloves
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup (114g) Unsalted Butter, softened
• 1/2 cup (100g) White Fine Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1/3 cup (79g) Fancy Molasses
• 1/4 cup (59g) Blackstrap (cooking) Molasses
• 1 bag Royal Icing Mix
• Optional: Silver Balls (Dragees), for decoration

Directions:

1. In a large bowl add flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt. Mix together and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer add butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg and both types of molasses until well combined.
3. Add the flour mixture in 2 to 3 batches to the butter mixture and mix well until dough rolls into a ball.
4. Divide dough in half and flatten into discs. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 - 60 minutes or until firm.
5. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 325°F, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
6. Once your dough is ready, roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface about 1/4 inch thick. If your dough is too cold to roll let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before rolling.
7. Using 5-star cookie cutters (that descend from large to small) cut out stars and place them on your baking sheets. Place small stars on one sheet and larger stars on the other sheet. Each tree needs 2 stars of the same size. You should have a total of 10 stars for each tree.
8. Bake for approx. 8-10 minutes, or until the bottoms are just starting to turn brown. They will harden as they cool.
9. Transfer to a cooling rack.
10. While the cookies cool, make your icing (you'll only need half the bag of royal icing). Simply add water to the powder and mix until you reach your desired consistency. You want the icing pliable, soft and a little thick. Add icing to a piping bag and set aside.
11. Assemble your cookies. You'll be using 2 cookies of each size to make one tree, a total of 10 cookies. Stack cookies to make a tower of 10 from large to small. Take one of the smallest stars, cover the entire surface in icing and add silver balls. Set it aside to air dry. Starting with the bottom large star, add a dollop of icing in the middle. Press the next star on top and continue until all the 9 stars are stacked. Add a big dollop on the top star and place your decorated small star on top. Continue with the rest of the trees and let them set. Now pipe dollops on each star tip to create a snowy looking branch. Let the cookies sit for 20 minutes before moving.
12. Enjoy.

NOTES:

Gingerbread has a long storage life and will last up to a month but after 2 weeks the cookies will not be quite as fresh. They don't require refrigeration. Store in a container until ready to use.

Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 40 Minutes
Yield: 8 Cookie Trees

Thanks to @bakingforfriends_