Today I have a new, fun, and delicious recipe that's perfect for New Year's and Christmas. On the menu: Christmas trees! And not just any trees — gingerbread Christmas trees! The base is the beloved Ginger Cookies recipe, but this time we're making them as gingerbread. I doubled the dough and made it chocolatey by adding cocoa. I cut back on the ginger and bumped up the cinnamon, so the two ended up in balance. The result is a wonderfully tasty chocolate gingerbread with a delicate cinnamon-ginger flavor and aroma. I used a simple royal icing — fairly thick — to assemble the trees. This amount of dough makes approximately 9–10 trees.
Ingredients:
- Dough:
- 450–500 g flour
- 200 g butter
- 120 g powdered sugar
- 120 g honey
- 25 g cocoa
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 0.5 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- Assembly:
- 2 egg whites
- ~ 450 g powdered sugar
- 1 packet vanilla sugar
How to cook gingerbread christmas trees
Beat the softened butter thoroughly with the powdered sugar, then add the salt. Add the egg and beat well, then add the melted and cooled honey and beat again.
Combine the flour with the cocoa, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, and baking powder, and mix well. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and begin mixing the dough — start in the bowl.
Then continue on the countertop. The dough should be soft yet hold its shape, without being loaded down with flour. As always, use your judgment when it comes to the exact amount of flour. Refrigerate the dough for a couple of hours or overnight (it needs to be well chilled — this makes it much easier to work with).
For convenience, divide the dough into two portions and roll each out to a thickness of 4–5 mm. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters and transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C (350°F) for about 5–10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them, since the dough is dark chocolate-colored and it's hard to tell when they're done.
Now let's make the icing. Wash the eggs (they should be fresh) thoroughly with soap and a firm scrubbing brush, then dry them. Separate the egg whites and beat them lightly with a hand whisk, then gradually add the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar, mixing until you get a very thick icing. Transfer it to a piping bag or a sturdy zip-lock bag and snip off a small corner.
When assembling, it's best to pipe a ring of icing, leaving the center empty — just as shown in the photo. This way you'll use less icing.
Once the icing has set, store the trees wrapped in a bag to keep them fresh longer. You can also wrap the gingerbread trees in festive packaging, tie them with ribbons, and give them as gifts to loved ones and friends. And there's nothing quite like sipping tea with one of these delicious little trees on a cozy winter evening! Mmmmm!
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