Little Cookie Trees

Have a look at these recipes that also use molasses:

Mini Medene Kućice

Zvezdani Venac

There’s something quietly magical about December afternoons spent in the kitchen, the scent of vanilla, the soft rustle of baking paper and trays slowly filling with little pieces of joy. Holiday baking has a way of turning simple ingredients into small, thoughtful gifts, the kind you make with your own hands and share from the heart.

These Christmas Cookie Trees are exactly that kind of sweetness: playful, charming and almost too cute to eat. Layered, soft and delicate, they look beautiful on the table and even better wrapped into small festive bundles for friends and family.

So tie your apron, warm the oven and let’s build a tiny forest of edible gifts together.

A few years ago, I kicked off my ‘December Cookie Challenge’, baking and sharing a new cookie recipe every day throughout December! This year, I’ve revisited this recipe with a few extra tips and you can check out all the other December cookies for more festive baking inspiration here!

Ingredients

• 130 g dark molasses

• 150 g soft light brown sugar

• 200 g unsalted butter

• Zest of 1 lemon

• 3 tsp ground ginger

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 500 g plain flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 lightly beaten medium egg

  
  

Royal Icing

• 100-200 g icing sugar

• 1 small egg white

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 tbsp water

  
  

Method

1. Pour the molasses into a large saucepan with the sugar, butter, zest and spices. Keep on a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Then bring to the boiling point, remove from heat, and add in the bicarbonate of soda. Mix until combined and leave to cool for 15 minutes.

2. Slowly sift the flour and salt into the mixture then add the egg. It may become quite tough to fold with a wooden spoon so an extra pair of hands would be helpful, or you can use a stand mixer. Mix until combined ( be careful not to overwork the dough) then wrap in cling film to chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 140°C (fan). Line baking trays with baking paper. Roll the dough between two sheets of cling film to a thickness of about 5 mm. Using star cookie cutters of 6 different sizes (I used 12 cm, 10 cm, 9 cm, 7 cm, 5.5 cm and 4 cm) cut out 4 of each shape and gently place on the prepared baking trays. Cool in the freezer for 5 minutes.

4. Bake for 6-10 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. They will still be soft once baked, so leave them to cool for 5 minutes to allow them to harden. Carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Meanwhile, mix the icing sugar, egg white, lemon juice and water together to make a thin, runny icing. Decorate each cookie with a piping bag fitted with a fine nozzle. Using the icing sugar as an adhesive, stick the cookies together to create the Christmas tree. Leave for an hour at room temperature to allow the Royal icing to harden.

Tip

If you would like to ice the entire cookie, use 200 g of icing sugar. You can also just decorate the edges, which will only require about 100 g of icing sugar. Makes 2 Christmas trees, 18-20 stars stack on top each other, about 20 cm tall. You’ll have a few extra biscuits as well, perfect for nibbling!

Enjoy!

Find more of my recipes on my Recipes Page 

Have you made this recipe? I’d love to hear how your baking turned out and feel free to tag @smikiscorner on Instagram or leave a comment below!

Novogodišnji Bor

Pogledajte i ove recepte koji koriste melasu

(sirup od šećerne trske ili sirup od repe)

Mini Medene Kućice

Zvezdani Venac

U decembarskim popodnevima postoji neka tiha magija, miris vanile u kuhinji, šuštanje papira za pečenje i plehovi koji se polako pune malim zalogajima radosti. Praznično pečenje ima tu moć da sasvim obične sastojke pretvori u pažljive, jestive poklone, one koje praviš rukama i deliš od srca.

Ovi božićni kolačići u obliku jelki upravo su takva slatkoća: razigrani, šarmantni i skoro previše slatki da bi se pojeli. Slojeviti, hrskavi i nežni, izgledaju prelepo na prazničnoj trpezi a još lepše kada ih upakuješ u male, svečane paketiće za porodicu i prijatelje.

Zato zaveži kecelju, zagrej rernu i ajde da zajedno napravimo malu šumicu jestivih poklona.

Pre nekoliko godina pokrenula sam svoj ‘December Cookie Challenge’, praveći i deleći po jedan novi recept za kolačiće svakog dana u decembru! Ove godine sam se vratila ovom receptu sa nekoliko dodatnih saveta a sve ostale decembarske kolačiće možete pogledati ovde!

Sastojci

• 130 g molasses

• 150 g braon šećera

• 200 g neslanog maslaca

• rendana korica 1-og limuna

• 3 m.k mljevenog đumbira

• 2 m.k cimeta

• 1/2 m.k muskatnog oraščića

• 1 m.k sode bikarbone

• 500 g brašna

• 1 m.k soli

• 1 jaje

Glazura

• 100-200 g šećera u prahu

• 1 belanjce

• 1 kasika limunovog soka

• 1 kašika vode, po potrebi

  
  

Priprema

1. U veću šerpu staviti molasses, šećer, maslac, koricu limuna i začine. Staviti na laganu vatru da se polako topi, mešati, kad zakuva skloniti sa ringle pa dodati sodu. Promešati da se sve sjedini pa ostaviti da se hladi oko 15 minuta.

2. Prohlađenoj masi polako dodavati brašno, mešati (biće teško) samo minut-dva, dok se sjedini. Dodati razmućeno jaje i so. Mešati da se sve sjedini, zamotati u foliju i staviti u frizider na 1 sat. Tjesto će biti dosta meko tokom izrade, nikako ne dodavati extra brašna.

3. Zagrijati rernu na 140 C (na ventilator). Razviti tjesto između dva komada prozirne folije. Zvezdanim kalupima (ja sam koristila 12cm, 10 cm, 9 cm, 7 cm, 5.5 cm i 4 cm), seći keksiće, 4 od svake velicine, slagati na pripremljene plehove, staviti ih na 5 minuta u zamrzivač.

4. Peći 6 - 10 minuta u zavisnosti od veličine. Kad su pečeni biće jako meki, ostaviti ih da se prohlade oko 5 minuta da očvrsnu pa ih prebaciti na žicu da se skroz ohlade. Ako se keksići pripreme ranije, složiti ih i između svakog reda staviti papir za pečenje.

5. U međuvremenu, mikserom izmutiti belanjce, dodati prah šećer i sok limuna. Mutiti da se dobije čvršća ali tekuća glazura, po potrebi dodati i vodu. Stavi u vrećicu, kojoj potom odseći vrh, dekorisati drveće, staviti malo i na sredinu svake zvezde kako bi drvće bilo stabilnije.

Savet

Šećer dodavati po malo, možda vam neće biti potrebna sva količina. Meni je bilo potrebno malo više od 100g jer nisam punila celu površinu zvezdi.

Napomena

Melasa je gusta tamnosiva, gotovo crna slatka tečnost koja nastaje preradom šećerne trske ili repe. Ima ukus sličan medu i može se kupiti u prodavnicama zdrave hrane.

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