Using prepared cookie dough gives you a nice head start to your own little forest of Christmas trees. Get the kids involved in this holiday craft to keep them busy making memories.

 

Ingredients

  • 1 tube (16-1/2 ounces) refrigerated sugar cookie dough
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • Green colored sugar and red nonpareils
  • 1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting
  • 9 wrapped Rolo candies
  • Gumdrops, halved crosswise
  • 9 peppermint candies
  • Water

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Place cookie dough in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature 5-10 minutes to soften. Beat in vanilla. Add flour; beat until blended.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Using a floured 2-in. round cookie cutter, cut out 18 cookies. Repeat with 1-1/2-in. and 1-in. round cookie cutters.
  • Sprinkle cookies with colored sugar; decorate edges with nonpareils. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 6-9 minutes or until edges are light brown. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
  • For each Christmas tree, pipe frosting on top of a Rolo candy for a trunk; top with a 2-in. cookie. Pipe frosting on top and bottom of a gumdrop; place in center of cookie. Top with another 2-in. cookie. Repeat layers with two 1-1/2-in. cookies and two 1-in. cookies, piping frosting on gumdrops to adhere layers.
  • Attach a peppermint candy to the top using additional frosting. Thin remaining frosting with water; drizzle over edges.

Nutrition Facts

1 Christmas tree (calculated without decorations): 466 calories, 18g fat (6g saturated fat), 6mg cholesterol, 278mg sodium, 72g carbohydrate (48g sugars, 1g fiber), 3g protein.