Christmas Tree Caramel Sugar Cookies
Serves 24
30 mins prep
20 mins cook
50 mins total
These Christmas tree cookies are soft and chewy, taste like caramel, and are perfect to make for the holidays. They're made out of caramel sugar cookie dough, don't spread in the oven and you don't need to chill the dough. Homemade (or store-bought) toffee bits added into the dough add crunch and a beautiful real caramel flavor without needing to add a flavor extract. This no chill, no spread sugar cookie dough is easy to make and stays soft and chewy for days! The cookies are decorated by dipping them into an easy royal icing.
Toffee
Sugar Cookie Dough
Royal Icing
Toffee
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add sugar and salt, and whisk to combine. It will thicken. Make sure that there isn't any separated butter at this stage and that the mixture looks thick and fully combined.
cup unsalted butter
cup granulated sugar
tsp sea salt
Cook on low heat, running a spatula along the edges and bottom occasionally to prevent burning, until the mixture turns golden brown. It is ready when the texture becomes more liquid-like and the color is golden brown. Don't mix vigorously!
Pour the toffee onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet and spread it thin. Leave it to set for 10-15 minutes.
Once the toffee cools, roll a rolling pin over the toffee to crush it into small pieces. The smaller the better!
Sugar Cookie Dough
Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine softened butter, sugar, and salt. Mix until combined, scrape down the bowl, and mix again. Don't mix until light and creamy!
cup unsalted butter
cup granulated sugar
tsp sea salt
Add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix until just combined, scrape the bowl and briefly mix again.
large egg
tsp pure vanilla extract
Add the flour, baking powder, and toffee bits to the butter mixture. Mix until the dough comes together. Use a spatula to scrape down the bowl if there are any dry bits on the edges.
cup all purpose flour
tsp baking powder
Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to 1/4" thickness. Cut out shapes and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet with 1" space between the cookies.
Bake the cookies in the center of your preheated oven, 1 sheet at a time, for 8-9 minutes. The cookies are ready when the bottoms are lightly golden brown.
Transfer the cookies onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Continue baking batches of the cookies, rerolling the scraps until you've baked up all of the cookie dough.
Royal Icing
Add the powdered sugar and meringue powder into a large bowl or stand mixer with a whisk attachment.
cup powdered or icing sugar
tbsp meringue powder
Add water and vanilla extract to the powdered sugar. Start on low speed to prevent an icing cloud, and increase the speed until high speed for 2 minutes.
tbsp room temperature water
tsp pure vanilla extract
When you lift up the whisk, the icing drizzle should disappear into the bowl in 6-8 seconds. If the icing is too thin, whip for another minute (the longer you whip the thicker it gets), and if that doesn't work, add more icing sugar. If the icing is too thick, add a tablespoon of water at a time, mixing to get the correct consistency.
Divide the icing into three bowls to color. Reserve a few tablespoons of white icing for the snow. I used a tiny amount of gel food coloring to color the icing purple, teal, and green.
Dip the cookies into the icing and let the excess drip off. Use a spatula or spoon to scrape off the excess. Decorate with sprinkles, drizzle lines of white icing for snow, and lay the cookies out in a single layer to set for about 2 hours or overnight.
white nonpariel sprinkles
gold and/or silver star sprinkles
Once the icing is set, store the cookies in an airtight bag or container to prevent them from getting stale.