Recipe courtesy of
Andy Liang
for
Food Network Kitchen
Recipe courtesy of
Andy Liang
for
Food Network Kitchen
Watch how to make this recipe.
Mini Woven Christmas Tree Cookies
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- Level: Intermediate
- Total: 2 hr (includes cooling and chilling times)
- Active: 1 hr
- Yield: 32 to 34 cookies
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 33 servings
- Calories
- 67
- Total Fat
- 3 g
- Saturated Fat
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- 9 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 0 g
- Sugar
- 2 g
- Protein
- 1 g
- Cholesterol
- 13 mg
- Sodium
- 37 mg
These mini woven Christmas trees, lightly sweetened and with a deliciously crisp texture, bring a modern two-tone effect to the traditional holiday cookie tin. The trees come out in a variety of pattern and color combinations, depending on where they're cut on the woven dough sheets. A small gold star on top brings some festive flair and ties them all together.
- Level: Intermediate
- Total: 2 hr (includes cooling and chilling times)
- Active: 1 hr
- Yield: 32 to 34 cookies
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 33 servings
- Calories
- 67
- Total Fat
- 3 g
- Saturated Fat
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- 9 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 0 g
- Sugar
- 2 g
- Protein
- 1 g
- Cholesterol
- 13 mg
- Sodium
- 37 mg
Ingredients
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Directions
Special equipment:
a mini Christmas tree cookie cutter (about 1 3/4 inches high and 1 1/2 inches wide)- Pulse the flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a food processor until combined. Pulse in the butter until completely combined and no large chunks of butter are visible. Whisk together the vanilla, egg and 1 drop of the food coloring with a fork in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. Stream in the egg mixture through the feed tube of the food processor while the motor is running and pulse until a dough starts to form.
- Transfer half of the dough to the center of a 16-by-12-inch piece of parchment. Add 3 drops of food coloring to the remaining dough in the processor and pulse until distributed; it’s okay if parts of the dough aren’t speckled evenly. Transfer the dark green dough to the center of a separate 16-by-12-inch parchment piece. Cover each dough piece with a second similar-size sheet of parchment. Roll out the dough pieces separately, each to a 12-by-10-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Check for any creases that might have formed, then peel off the parchment and smooth out using your hands or the rolling pin. Re-cover each dough sheet with the parchment. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet, stacking them together, and refrigerate until solid and cold, about 30 minutes.
- Set both sheets of parchment-covered dough next to each other on a work surface. Peel the parchment paper off the top of each dough sheet, then put them back on the dough. Flip the dough sheets over and peel off the parchment from the other side; this helps release the dough, so the shape doesn’t change while handling it. Trim the outer edges of each dough sheet to an 11-by-9-inch rectangle with sharp corners. Cut each sheet of dough in half horizontally, then vertically, into 4 equal pieces.
- Position a light green dough piece in front of you on a work surface with one of the long sides facing you. Position a dark green dough piece with one of the short sides facing you, with the bottom left corner of it touching the top right corner of the light green piece, forming a 90-degree angle. Cut 1/4-inch-thick horizontal strips on the light green dough (parallel to the long side) without cutting all the way through the short side on the far right, leaving an uncut 1/8-inch border on the right side (it's okay if you accidentally cut through the border in places). Cut 1/4-inch-thick vertical strips on the dark green dough (parallel to the long side) without cutting all the way through the short side on the bottom, leaving an uncut 1/8-inch border on the short side closest to you.
- To begin weaving, grab the top corner of the strip on the far left side of the dark green rectangle and pull it down to drape it right beside the right border of the light green rectangle. Then grab the far left corner of the top light green strip and pull it across to drape it right under the bottom border of the dark green rectangle. Continue to weave the strips, alternating colors and keeping the strips very close to one another (or even slightly shingling is okay), until all of the strips are woven.
- Trim the excess ends from the rectangle to even it out. Gently pat down to seal the 2 colors together without blurring the lines. Carefully loosen the bottom of the weaved rectangle using a large offset spatula and transfer to another parchment-lined baking sheet. Set aside at room temperature. Repeat the same cutting and weaving process with the remaining dough pieces, then transfer them all to the same baking sheet. Refrigerate until cold and firm, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.
- Using a mini Christmas tree cookie cutter, punch out as many trees as possible and transfer them to 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving 1 1/2 inches between each cookie (you can use the same parchment-lined baking sheet used to chill the dough for one of them). Press 1 gold star sprinkle on top of each tree to seal together.
- Bake, rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until the edges are light golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets.
Cook’s Note
When measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.) If desired, roll the excess dough into a 1 1/2-inch log and cut into 1/4-inch-thick coins. Bake in the oven at 325 degrees F until light golden around the edges, about 15 minutes.
