Things You'll Need:
- Sugar cookie dough
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutters in the shape of a Christmas tree
- Baking pan
- Spatula
- Confectioner's sugar
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
- Food coloring
- Multicolored sprinkles
- Colored sugar crystals
- Chocolate chips or candy
- Pastry bags with thin tips
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Step 1
Make a batch of your favorite sugar cookie dough and refrigerate for at least an hour.
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Step 2
Sprinkle flour onto a smooth, clean surface like a counter top or a kitchen table. Roll the dough flat with a rolling pin until it is about 1/4 inch thick
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Step 3
Use the cookie cutter to cut out the shapes and place them on a baking pan, using a spatula.
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Step 4
Continue rolling out the dough and cutting out shapes until all the dough is used.
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Step 5
Bake the cookies according to your recipe.
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Step 6
Set the cookies aside to cool, or put them in the freezer to speed up the process.
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Step 1
Put half of a box of powdered confectioner's sugar in a small mixing bowl. Mix in 1 tsp. of vanilla. Pour in a small amount of milk and stir. The milk will go a lot further than you might think, so only use a small amount at first.
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Step 2
Mix the icing up with a spoon or whisk. Keep adding milk until the icing is at the right consistency. The icing should be easily spreadable but not so thin that it won't stay in place. If your icing is too runny, add more confectioner's sugar.
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Step 3
Separate the icing into several bowls. Use one bowl for each color of icing.
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Step 4
Add several drops of food coloring to each bowl and mix the coloring into the icing. If the hue isn't as bright as you would like, add more food coloring and mix again.
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Step 1
Hold the cookie, facing down, and grip the edges. Lower it down into the icing so that the surface of the cookie touches the icing. Then lift it back up, let the excess drip off, flip over and allow to dry.
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Step 2
Use a butter knife (or a knife specifically for icing) to spread icing onto the cookie. This way may give you more control.
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Step 3
Fill a pastry bag with some icing. Use a small tip. Write or make patterns on the cookie. This is a great way to make scalloped lines on a Christmas tree to represent branches. You could also outline it.
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Step 1
Sprinkle the colored sugar on top of wet icing to give it a nice sparkly texture. You could also use multicolored sprinkles to represent ornaments.
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Step 2
Place chocolate chips or candy on the icing.
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Step 3
Experiment with different patterns like polka dots and strips. Variety is key here. It's nice to have an assortment of cookies, so people can pick their favorites.
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Step 4
Add some competition into the mix by having family and friends vote on the cookies. Have many categories so that everyone has a chance to win. Category suggestions are "most creative," "most realistic," and even "messiest."
