**Gingerbread Sandwich Trees: A Festive Treat for the Holidays**
In the realm of Christmas confections, gingerbread sandwich trees stand tall as a delightful edible centerpiece. These charming treats combine the classic flavors of gingerbread with the irresistible allure of a sandwich cookie, topped with a luscious layer of frosting. This article presents a collection of gingerbread sandwich tree recipes, each offering unique variations to tantalize your taste buds. From traditional gingerbread to gluten-free options, and from simple decorations to elaborate designs, these recipes cater to diverse dietary needs and skill levels. Embrace the joy of baking as you embark on a culinary journey to create these festive gingerbread sandwich trees that will add a touch of magic to your holiday celebrations.
GINGERBREAD-COOKIE TREES
A dessert grows in your kitchen when you stack a series of ever smaller cookies to form a tannenbaum, and top it with a star-shaped cookie. Cream cheese frosting between pairs and confectioners' sugar dusted on top create a sweet snowfall.
Provided by Martha Stewart
Categories Food & Cooking Dessert & Treats Recipes Cookie Recipes
Yield Makes 120 cookies and 10 trees
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg, then molasses, spices, baking soda, and salt. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour. Divide dough into quarters; shape into disks. Wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours (up to 2 days).
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Transfer one disk of dough at a time to a lightly floured work surface. Roll out to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes using a set of 11 fluted round cookie cutters in graduated sizes (3/4 inch to 3 1/2 inches). You will use each cutter once for every tree. Using a 1 1/4-inch star cutter, cut out 10 stars. Arrange cookies by size on parchment-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes.
- Bake until firm, about 6 minutes for small cookies and 10 minutes for large. Let cool 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks, and let cool completely.
- Assemble trees: Put frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip (such as Ateco #12). Pipe a dime-size dot of frosting in center of second-largest cookie; sandwich with largest cookie. Repeat in descending pairs with larger cookies on top to make 5 sandwiches. Pipe a scalloped 1/4-inch-thick border of frosting on top of larger cookie of largest sandwich. Top with the second-largest sandwich, larger cookie up, and repeat to make a tree of 5 sandwiches. Top with frosting, then smallest cookie, then more frosting and a star (standing upright). Cookie trees can be refrigerated up to 6 hours (they will soften). Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.
GINGERBREAD CHRISTMAS TREE SANDWICH COOKIES
These spicy gingerbread sandwich cookies get their kick from black pepper and cayenne in the dough. The cream cheese frosting works double time -- as a filling it mellows the ginger kick just enough, and it decorates the tops of the cookies, too.
Provided by Food Network Kitchen
Categories dessert
Time 3h40m
Yield 10 to 11 sandwich cookies
Number Of Ingredients 20
Steps:
- For the cookie dough: Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, salt, baking soda, allspice, nutmeg, cayenne and baking powder in a medium bowl.
- Beat the granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the molasses until combined, then the egg (the mixture might look curdled). Add the flour mixture and mix on low until the dough comes together. Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a disk and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Keeping one dough disk refrigerated, roll the other on a well-floured work surface to 1/4 inch thick, sprinkling flour on and under the dough as needed and sliding a spatula underneath every so often to prevent sticking (if the dough looks crackly or breaks apart, press it back together from the outside edge in). Use a 3 1/2-inch-wide by 3 3/4-inch-tall Christmas tree cookie cutter to cut out trees as close together as possible. Pull away the extra dough around each shape, then use a small offset spatula to transfer the trees to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 1/2 inch apart (they will not spread much during baking). Reroll the scraps and cut out more cookies. Repeat this process with the remaining dough disk to make about 22 total. Freeze the cookies until firm, about 15 minutes.
- Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
- Bake, rotating the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through cooking, until the cookies are slightly firm to the touch but not browned at the edges, about 12 minutes. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes. The cookies will continue to firm as they cool.
- For the filling: Beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners' sugar and salt and mix until smooth and creamy. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (size 6).
- For the add-ins: Pipe frosting in the style of a garland on half of the cookies. Lightly press the candy-coated chocolates into the frosting garlands. Cut the pretzel sticks to the same length as the cookie tree trunks. Pipe a small amount of frosting onto the trunks, then press pretzel stick pieces into the frosting. Turn the remaining cookies over (bottom-side up) and pipe frosting onto each. Top each with a decorated cookie and serve immediately.
GINGERBREAD TREES
Provided by Food Network Kitchen
Categories dessert
Time 1h50m
Yield About 24 gingerbread trees
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- Whisk the flour, gingerbread spice, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter, brown sugar and molasses in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add the flour mixture in two batches, beating until just combined. Divide the dough between 2 large pieces of plastic wrap. Flatten into disks and wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350˚. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out 1 disk of dough on a lightly floured surface until about 3/8 inch thick. Cut out trees using 2- to 3-inch cutters. (If the dough becomes too sticky, refrigerate 15 minutes.) Arrange the cutouts 1 inch apart on the prepared pans.
- Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are puffed and the edges are lightly set, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the pans, then remove the cookies to racks to cool completely.
- Roll out the other disk of dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out more cookies. Once the baking sheets have cooled, arrange the cutouts on the pans, bake and let cool.
- Make the icing: Whisk the confectioners' sugar with the water until smooth and very thick. Transfer the icing to a resealable plastic bag, snip off a corner and pipe on the cookies; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Decorate with the sunflower seeds.
GINGERBREAD TREES
Enjoy this recipe for golden gingerbread trees - make them to eat on their own, or to decorate your Christmas cake
Provided by Good Food team
Categories Afternoon tea, Dinner, Lunch, Snack, Treat
Time 22m
Yield Makes 20-24
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Beat together the softened butter with the caster sugar until creamy. Stir in bicarbonate of soda, golden syrup and the egg yolks. Sift in the plain flour and ground cinnamon and ground ginger then bring together with a wooden spoon. Shape into two balls, knead until the dough comes together, then chill for 30 mins. Roll out one ball at a time, to about 2 x £1 coin thickness. Stamp out trees with a 7cm cutter, then re-roll the trimmings. Lift dough onto greased baking sheets and bake for 10-12 mins until slightly risen and golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Will keep in an airtight container up to a week.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 96 calories, Fat 4 grams fat, SaturatedFat 2 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 15 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 5 grams sugar, Protein 2 grams protein, Sodium 0.17 milligram of sodium
ULTIMATE EASY GINGERBREAD
Make some gingerbread stars to hang from your Christmas tree. This biscuit dough is extremely forgiving if overworked, so it's perfect for baking with children
Provided by Liberty Mendez
Time 35m
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- Heat the butter, syrup and sugar together in a small pan until melted, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Mix together the bicarb, ginger, cinnamon and flour in a large bowl. Pour in the buttery syrup mixture and stir to combine, then use your hands to bring together to form a dough. The dough will be soft at this point, but it'll firm up in the fridge.
- Put the dough on a sheet of baking parchment, shape into a rectangle, and lay another sheet of parchment on top of it. Roll the dough out to a thickness of ½cm. Transfer to a baking sheet to keep it flat, leaving the parchment in place, then chill in the fridge for 1 hr.
- Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and line a large baking sheet with more baking parchment. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut out shapes using a cookie cutter. We used 9cm stars, but you can choose any shape. We also made some with smaller stars cut out of the centre to thread ribbon through and hang from a Christmas tree.
- Place the shapes, spread apart, on the lined baking sheet, and bake for 10-12 mins. (Depending on the size of the cutters you use, they might need a few minutes more or less cooking in the oven). Leave to cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Meanwhile, mix the icing sugar with 1-2 tbsp water - you want to create a consistency that's thick and pipeable, and not too thin or it will run. Decorate the cooled biscuits with the icing using a piping bag with a thin nozzle. Find out how to make a piping bag.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 150 calories, Fat 5 grams fat, SaturatedFat 3 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 23 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 12 grams sugar, Fiber 1 grams fiber, Protein 2 grams protein, Sodium 0.2 milligram of sodium
Tips:
- Carefully select your gingerbread. Look for a gingerbread that is sturdy and not too crumbly. This will help your trees stand up straight and prevent them from breaking apart.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the gingerbread. This will help you get clean, even cuts.
- Be careful not to overfill the sandwich cookies. Too much filling can make them difficult to assemble and eat.
- Chill the sandwich cookies before decorating them. This will help the frosting set and prevent it from becoming too messy.
- Be creative with your decorations. You can use anything from sprinkles and candy canes to edible glitter and fondant to decorate your trees.
Conclusion:
Gingerbread sandwich trees are a fun and festive treat that are perfect for the holiday season. They are easy to make and can be decorated in a variety of ways, making them a great activity for kids and adults alike. With a little planning and creativity, you can create beautiful and delicious gingerbread sandwich trees that will be the hit of your next party.
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