Little Debbie Tree Sugar Cookies
Little Debbie inspired Christmas tree sugar cookies are a twist on the original snack cake inspiration. Dipped in frosting they are easy to make!
Servings 30 cookies
Calories 225kcal
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Dough
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon almond extract
- 4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
Frosting
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 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 1/2 cups of flour and add the last 1/2 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 1/4- 3/8″) 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 1/2 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.
Video
Notes
The cookies will harden slightly as they set. Enough to transport or package up. I don't recommend stacking cookies that have been decorated with buttercream frosting more than 2 cookies tall because buttercream will never be as hard as royal icing.
Store the cookies wrapped in plastic on the baking sheet or in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Calories: 225kcal