These Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cookies are a fun sugar cookie twist on the classic Christmas Tree Cakes! Soft, buttery sugar cookies are dipped in creamy buttercream, covered with green sugar sprinkles, and finished with the signature red frosting stripes.
If you're planning your holiday baking, don't miss my 40 Christmas Cookie Recipes for more classic and festive cookies to add to your Christmas cookie tray.
These aren't meant to be an exact copy of the original snack cakes. They're simply a fun way to turn my favorite soft sugar cookie recipe into a Christmas tree cookie inspired by the classic Little Debbie treat.
This recipe makes about 30 tree cookies. The cookies are dipped in warm buttercream for a smooth finish, sprinkled with green sugar, then decorated with red buttercream.
Why I Like This Recipe
- Soft and buttery: These start with my favorite soft sugar cookie recipe, made with butter, shortening, vanilla, almond extract, and cornstarch.
- Easy frosting technique: Instead of spreading frosting over every cookie, dip the tops in warm buttercream. It's quick and gives the cookies a smooth finish.
- They look like the original: The green sugar and red frosting stripes make these instantly recognizable as Little Debbie Christmas Tree-inspired cookies.
- No-chill sugar cookie dough: There's no need to refrigerate the dough before rolling and cutting.
- Perfect for Christmas cookie trays: They're festive, nostalgic, and fun to make.
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Tips and Tricks
- Dip the Cookies in Warm Frosting. This is my favorite trick for getting a smooth frosting finish. Instead of spreading buttercream over every cookie, warm the frosting in the microwave for 20–30 seconds, stir it, and dip the tops of the cookies directly into the frosting. Let the excess frosting drip off, then turn the cookies over and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet to set. As the frosting cools, it will begin to thicken. When that happens, microwave it for about 10 seconds, stir, and continue dipping.
- Use Homemade or Store-Bought Frosting. I've used both homemade buttercream and store-bought frosting for this method, and both work. I used homemade buttercream for the cookies pictured here, but store-bought frosting is a convenient shortcut if you're making a large batch of Christmas cookies.
- Don't Melt the Red Frosting. The red frosting is used differently from the white frosting. Set aside about ½ cup of the frosting and tint it red. Keep this frosting at room temperature rather than heating it. Once the cookies are dipped and sprinkled, pipe the red frosting over the tops using a small round piping tip.
- Don't Overfill Your Piping Bag. You only need a small amount of red frosting for the decorative stripes, so there's no need to fill the piping bag all the way.
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- Butter and Shortening: I use a combination of butter and shortening for the best texture and flavor. If you don't want to use shortening you can use all butter, but I highly recommend trying the recipe as written first.
- Sugar: There are only two types of cookies that I don't use a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar for: sugar cookies and snickerdoodles. White sugar is best for sugar cookies. It gives them great flavor and texture.
- Egg: For richness and texture.
- Vanilla Extract and Almond Extract: Extracts are where you can get creative when making cookies. Vanilla and almond are my favorites to use and are a wonderful flavor combination.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is a great option for baking cookies.
- Cornstarch: This recipe requires a substantial amount of cornstarch. Trust me, it makes a soft and tender cookie.
- Baking powder: Baking powder gives sugar cookies life and a light texture.
Easy Buttercream Frosting
- Butter: For the best flavor and texture, always use butter in your frosting.
- Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar gives the frosting a fluffy and smooth texture.
- Milk or Heavy Cream: A bit of milk or cream helps thin the frosting out to a spreadable consistency.
- Vanilla: For flavoring.
- Green sugar sprinkles
- Red food coloring
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Little Debbie Inspired Tree Cookies
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer*), combine butter, shortening, and sugar. Beat until fluffy.
Step 2: Turn the electric mixer to a low speed and add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Add baking powder. Stir in the flour and cornstarch, and mix until a soft dough forms.
Step 3: Roll the dough out to the desired thickness using a rolling pin (I usually do ¼- ⅜″) and cut into tree shapes.
Bake at 325 degrees for 12 minutes on ungreased baking sheets.
Cookies will be soft. Let sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before carefully moving to a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
Step 4: Beat frosting ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
Spoon out a heaping ½ cup of frosting into a small bowl and add food coloring to tint it red. Set the red frosting aside.
Step 5: Heat the remaining white frosting in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Stir.
It should be smooth and thin.
Step 6: Hold onto the edges of the cookie and dip the top into the warm frosting. Allow excess to drip off.
Note: the frosting will begin to thicken as it cools. When that happens, simply reheat in the microwave for 10 seconds and stir. It'll be thin and ready for dipping again.
Step 7: Place dipped cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle immediately with green sugar sprinkles.
Step 8: Once all of the sugar cookies have been dipped and sprinkled, fit a frosting bag with a small round tip and spoon the red frosting into the bag.
Decorate the tops of the tree cookies with red lines of frosting.
Store the cookies wrapped in plastic on the baking sheet or in an airtight container.
Little Debbie Tree Cookies FAQs
They taste like soft, buttery sugar cookies and have a cookie consistency rather than the soft cake texture of the original snack cakes.
They're a fun homemade interpretation rather than an exact copy.
The cookies will harden slightly as they set. Enough to transport or package up. I don't recommend stacking cookies decorated with buttercream frosting more than 2 cookies tall because buttercream will never be as hard as royal icing.
Warm the white buttercream in the microwave for 20–30 seconds, then stir until smooth and thin. Hold the edges of the cookie and dip the top into the warm frosting. Let the excess frosting drip off, then turn the cookie over and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet to set. If the frosting begins to thicken while you're working, microwave it for about 10 seconds and stir.
Some recipes call for refrigeration, but this one doesn’t. If you’d like to make it ahead of time you can wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and then use it later, but this is a great last-minute recipe because refrigeration is not necessary.
Corn starch softens the dough making it feel like a cloud. It also makes for a softer sugar cookie.
Yes! I've used store-bought frosting with this method and had great results.
Homemade buttercream gives these cookies a delicious flavor, but store-bought frosting is a perfectly good shortcut.
Store the cookies in plastic wrap or an airtight container at room temperature. Because the buttercream remains softer than royal icing, I recommend placing parchment or wax paper between layers if you need to stack them.
If you enjoyed this recipe, don't miss my growing collection of Copycat Recipes! From famous restaurant dishes and luxury hotel cookies to bakery favorites and nostalgic grocery store treats, there's something for everyone.
More Snack Cake Inspired Recipes To Make
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Little Debbie Tree Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Dough
- 1 cup butter softened
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon almond extract
- 4 cup flour
- ½ cup corn starch
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
Frosting
- ¾ cup butter softened
- 4 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 Tbsp. milk
Instructions
Cookies
- In a large mixing bowl combine butter, shortening, and sugar. Beat until fluffy. Turn the mixer down and add egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Add baking powder. Add flour* and cornstarch and mix thoroughly. *Start with 3 ½ cups of flour and add the last ½ cup at the end if the dough seems too soft (I always use the full amount of flour).
- Lightly flour your working surface and shape dough into a large ball. No refrigeration necessary.
- Roll dough out to desired thickness using a rolling pin (I usually do ¼- ⅜″) and cut into tree shapes. Add flour to dough if it feels too sticky but a nice soft dough is what you want. Carefully transfer the cut-out cookie shapes with a spatula to a baking sheet.
- Bake on baking sheets at 325 degrees for 12 minutes. Cookies will be soft. Let them sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before carefully moving to a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream Frosting
- Beat frosting ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Spoon out a heaping ½ cup of frosting into a small bowl and add food coloring to tint it red. Set the bowl of red frosting to the side.
- Heat the remaining white frosting in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Stir.It should be smooth and thin.
- Hold onto the edges of the cookie and dip the top of the cookie into the warm frosting. Allow excess to drip off.Note: the frosting will begin to thicken as it cools. When that happens, simply reheat in the microwave for 10 seconds and stir. It'll be thin and ready for dipping again.
- Place dipped cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle immediately with green sugar sprinkles.
- Once all of the sugar cookies have been dipped and sprinkled, fit a frosting bag with a small round tip and spoon the red frosting into the bag. Decorate the tops of the tree cookies with red lines of frosting.
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