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These easy Gingerbread Christmas Tree Cookies are made with apple sauce to use a fraction of the butter – yet they still have the same great flavor and texture. Perfect for your Holiday baking!

Gingerbread Christmas Tree Cookies

4.55 from 20 votes
These Gingerbread cookies are made with a fraction of the butter – yet they still have the same great flavor and texture. This year I wanted to make them into Christmas trees. No cookie cutter required, all I used was a knife to cut them into triangles!
Prep Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Yield: 60 cookies
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter (softened)
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar (170 grams)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup dark molasses
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting (485 grams, plus more for dusting)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves

For the Icing:

  • 1 1/2 tbsp egg whites (room temperature)
  • 1/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 5 to 6 drops green food coloring
  • colored sprinkles

Instructions

For the cookies:

  • In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar and applesauce until smooth. Add the egg and molasses, mix well.
  • In another large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and spices. Add to sugar and molasses mixture, stirring well with the mixer. Use your hands to form a large ball, the dough will be a little sticky.
  • Wash and dry your hands. Place flour on your hands so the dough doesn't stick to you, lay dough on a floured surface, then divide the dough into two flat balls, adding more flour if sticky; cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
  • After the dough has chilled 2 hours, preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously dust the surface of your working area with flour before rolling out the dough. Work with one ball of dough at a time, keep the other refrigerated while you do so.
  • Depending on how thin you roll the dough out and the size of your trees, makes at least 60 tree cookies.
  • Roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness, sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough if it's a little sticky. Trim the uneven edges off to square the dough, then using a knife cut the dough into 3 1/2 inch strips. Then cut the strips into triangles.
  • Place the cookies 1 or 2 inches apart on a silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes.

For the icing:

  • Mix the egg whites with lemon juice. Combine with powdered sugar, mixing well then add a few drops of green food coloring until you get the color you desire.
  • If the icing is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar, if it's too thick add a drop of lemon juice or water. Transfer to a piping bag to decorate cookies when cookies are cooled.
  • To decorate, pipe the cookies with the frosting one at a time, quickly adding the sprinkles before it hardens.

Nutrition

Serving: 2cookies, Calories: 106kcal, Carbohydrates: 24g, Protein: 1.5g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 11mg, Sodium: 50mg, Sugar: 13.5g
- WW Points: 5