The Christmas trees with two-tone shortcrust pastry are classic cookies decorated in a Christmas theme, tasty, beautiful, and scenic, also perfect for homemade gifts.
They are really cute and brighten up the Christmas table, much appreciated by children who don’t like elaborate sweets.
They are very simple to prepare, just use different colors, use your creativity to create and alternate the doughs with the shapes you like best and, for an extra touch, decorate with colored sprinkles.
Prepare them together with your children, involve them in this Christmas atmosphere that smells good, of butter, cinnamon, and everything that leads to Christmas.
TRY THESE VARIANTS TOO
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 20 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients for Christmas Trees with Two-Tone Shortcrust Pastry
- 3 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 7 oz Butter
- 1 Medium egg yolk
- 1 Medium egg
- 3 tbsp Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 Grated orange zest
- 1 pinch Ground cinnamon (optional)
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- to taste Dark chocolate
- to taste Colored sprinkles
Tools
- 1 Stand mixer or bowl for hand mixing
- 1 Rolling pin
- Parchment paper
- Baking tray
- Cookie cutter Christmas tree shape
- 5 Cookie cutters cookies
Preparation Christmas Trees with Two-Tone Shortcrust Pastry
In the bowl of the stand mixer or a bowl for hand mixing, work the soft butter, at room temperature, with the sugar until a cream forms, continue working and add the eggs, the flavors, mix and finally incorporate the flour with the baking powder, work quickly and then divide the dough into two balls.
In one, add the unsweetened cocoa powder, working well until fully absorbed, in the other if needed a few tablespoons of flour.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest for about 30 minutes in the fridge.
Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it into two separate sheets of parchment paper, about 0.4 inches thick, then use a tree-shaped cutter — mine is 4.7 inches — to cut out many shapes, on each tree cut the decorative shape you like: star, heart, flower, swap and alternate colors between the trees.
Place each tree cookie on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, if desired you can also make different shapes from trees like stars.
Bake the cookies in a preheated convection oven at 356°F for about 12-15 minutes, adjust according to your oven’s power if you need to remove earlier, the cookies should be just golden, then remove from the oven and let cool.
The Christmas tree cookies are perfect to serve as is, but if you want an extra decorative touch, melt some dark chocolate and with the help of a sterile syringe, place the melted chocolate on the cookies and finish with colored sprinkles.
Anna advises…
The cookies keep for several days in an airtight tin to avoid moisture.
For other Christmas desserts visit my Collection of my Christmas desserts
Can I use lactose-free shortcrust pastry?
Yes, of course, use a shortcrust pastry with oil or lactose-free butter (Lactose-free cookies)
