Want a ridiculously easy way to wow your kids? Well, look no further — this is it!
The girls watched me rolling out the dough the other evening: “Whatcha making?” they whispered, one by one. “You’ll see,” I replied.
Then I pulled out the star cookie cutters, and that was enough excitement for them: “Ooh, star gingerbread cookies!” they exclaimed. “The tiny one is mine,” Baby Girl said.
I’ve been wanting to make one of these classic trees but hadn’t gotten around to it; however, when I spotted this Wilton Cookie Tree Cutter Kit on Amazon for just $5, I couldn’t resist. My tree is a lot smaller and simpler than the recipes that come in the box — I used just half a batch of gingerbread cookie dough and the five smallest cookie cutters from the kit — but I love how it turned out. And my kids loved oohing and ahhing over it almost as much as they enjoyed eating it, which is always a win.
This would even make a fun baking project for kids. You could make even smaller trees with just the three smallest sizes and let the kids put them together and decorate them themselves!
Prepare dough according to original directions and chill until firm, about two hours.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. The edges will look cooked, but the cookies should still be soft in the middle. Move to a wire rack to cool.
Once cooled, outline the cookies with the decorator gel and stack them together, largest to smallest, alternating the points as you go. Break the toothpick in half and stick it halfway into the tiniest star to help hold it up on the top of the tree. Cover gently with plastic wrap if you won’t be eating it right away.
Use sugar cookies or another favorite cut-out recipe instead.
Decorate with icing, sprinkles, candies, etc.
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