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Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake Cookies

Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake Cookies - featured image
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Soft, buttery vanilla cookies filled with creamy buttercream and festive sprinkles, just like the classic Christmas Tree Cakes!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1⁄4 tsp. salt
  • 1⁄4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1⁄2 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • red food gel
  • green sugar sprinkles
  • Vanilla Buttercream Filling
  • 3⁄4 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 1⁄2 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 1⁄4 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3 -5Tbsp. heavy whipping cream
  • 1 -2drops red food gel

Instructions

  1. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a medium-sized bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar for about 2 minutes until light, fluffy, and creamy.
  3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as you mix.
  4. Add the egg and vanilla to the creamed mixture.
  5. Continue to mix and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything combines evenly.
  6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
  7. Mix until a soft dough forms and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
  8. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for a few seconds longer to ensure everything is combined evenly.
  9. Roll the cookie dough out between two pieces of parchment paper to about 1/4 inch thick.
  10. Place the rolled dough onto a cookie sheet.
  11. Transfer the cookie sheet with the dough to the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
  12. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  13. Use a 5-inch circle cookie cutter to cut out as many circles as you can from the chilled dough.
  14. Use a 2-inch tree cookie cutter to cut out a tree shape in the center of half of the cut-out cookies.
  15. Place each cookie on a cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.
  16. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are just lightly golden brown.
  17. Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating.
  18. To make the buttercream, cream together 3/4 cups room temperature butter and 3 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or with an electric mixer.
  19. Slowly add 3-5 tablespoons of heavy cream until the mixture is nice and smooth.
  20. Add 1/4 tsp salt and 1 tsp vanilla extract to the buttercream and continue to mix.
  21. Remove about 1/4 cup of the buttercream and dye it red with 1-2 drops of red food gel.
  22. Place both the white and red buttercreams into separate piping bags.
  23. Once the cookies have cooled completely, pipe a layer of white buttercream on the flat bottom side of a full (uncut) cookie.
  24. Use the red buttercream to pipe the classic Little Debbie tree cake stripes on top of the white buttercream.
  25. Top with green sugar sprinkles.
  26. Place a cookie with the center tree cut out on top, centered over the filled cookie.
  27. Repeat this step for each cookie until all are assembled.

Notes

Ensure all dairy ingredients are at room temperature for the best cookie dough and buttercream texture.
Chill the cookie dough for the full duration to prevent spreading and maintain sharp cut-out shapes.
Do not overbake the cookies; they should be soft, not crispy.
Allow cookies to cool completely before frosting to prevent the buttercream from melting.

Find it online: https://sweetcraftrecipes.com/little-debbie-christmas-tree-cake-cookies/