Decorating Christmas Sugar Cookies

Decorating these Christmas tree cookies is a great family baking activity. These treats also make for a nice gift in holiday cookie exchanges.

After you've prepared your cookie dough, you'll roll it onto your kitchen counter to flatten.

Once the dough is flattened and roughly a quarter of an inch thick, press the tree cutter into it.

Use a spatula to lift and transfer dough onto ungreased aluminum baking sheets or space out the cookies on silicon mats and slide those onto each sheet to bake for about 12 minutes.

As cookies bake, make your frosting by combining buttercream ingredients. Then divide frosting into separate bowls for mixing colors. Green, red, and white keep it simple, but feel free to be more creative here for your own trees!

After your cookies have cooled on a wire rack, start piping your buttercream! An open star tip like Wilton 14 or 21 works great for texture.

Press your piping bag’s tip against the cookie, and make rows of frosting. For variety, alternate with another shade of green frosting.

For ornaments or berries, add sprinkles or seasonal M&Ms to your own trees.

Swipe up for the full tutorial to bake and decorate these holiday sugar cookies!