History of Christmas Cookies
It is thought that Christmas cookies got their start back in the medieval times. Annually, at the time of the solos there was a festival to celebrate the harvest of the spring and summer and prepare for the upcoming winter.
The festival included food and drinks that were not usually consumed at other times of the year. Spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger were used in desserts and breads to spice it up and give them a special treat to eat.
Why a Christmas Tree Cookie?
Pine, Spruce and firs are know for keeping their beautiful green color year round despite the coldest or weather conditions of the winter. Ancient people enjoyed using the greenery to decorate their homes for the solos festival.
Gingerbread Cookies
Equipment
- baking sheets
- parchment paper
- cookie cutters
- decorations
Ingredients
- 3 cups Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup Crisco ( solid vegetabel shortening)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1 egg beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375
- In a large microwave save bowl melt the Crisco to just melted. Set aside to slightly cool
- In a large mixing bowl ( I use the stand mixer) , Place the flour baking soda, salt and spices.
- Add sugar and corn syrup to the melted Crisco. Stir well with spoon.
- Add in the beaten egg ( the egg is beaten with a fork in a small bowl)
- Slowly add Crisco sugar mixture to the flour mixtiure in the mixing bowl using a low mixing speed. Increase speed and mixture altogether.
- Place cookie dough on a slightly floured surface. Roll out cookie dough to 1/4 and cut out cookies
- Bake large cookies for about 8-10 minutes andsmaller cookies for aabout 5-8 minutes. Monitor baking closely. Adjust time as needed. Edges should be slightly brown.
How to Make 3 Dimensional Christmas Tree Cookies
Methods to prepare cut out Christmas Trees:
To have a standing Christmas tree, two cookies will be needed. One cookie will need a slit from the top of the tree to about 3/4 down the cookie. The second cookie, will require a slit from the bottom up to towards the top of the tree.
Method One: – Cutting before baking
The slit can be cut before baking the cookie. It would be recommend to cut the slit into the cookie after the cut out shape has been transferred to the baking sheet. Transferring the cookie after it has the slit makes it difficult to transfer the cookie without distorting the shape. The slit will need to be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in width and the slits need to be the same length of both cookies.
As the cookie bakes, the slit closes up with the rise of the dough and can close off if the slit is not made large enough.
Method Two: – Cutting immediately out of the oven
The cookies are soft when they are first removed from the oven and these makes it easy to cut the slits.
To ensure that the lengths of both cookies would be the same, I measured 2 1/4 inches down from the top of a butter knife and wrapped it with painters tape.
Immediately upon removing the cookie sheet from the oven, the slit was made a a scribe tool used to clean out the small area.
While the cookie is still warm, but to hot, slide the cookie with skit on the bottom into the slit on the other cookie.
Allow the cookie to completely cool and then precede with decorating. If you need a Easy To Work With Royal Icing recipe, here you go. This is my go recipe. I adjust the quality of this recipe up and down depending on the project that I am working on.
What to decorate with 3 Dimensional Christmas Trees?
The sky is the limit with these 3 D trees. I believe you will find them useful in a variety of decorating scenes. I can see them as trees on a ski slop theme cake, trees in a forest, and if made smaller, as adorable cupcake toppers. What a bonus, a wonderful cookie along with a cupcake!
I hope you enjoy making these 3 Dimensional Christmas Trees. Please share your pictures and comment on how it went for you.
Cheers….Happy Baking
Looking good 💘