All The Tree's Treasures (Tree Treasure Cookies)
Christmas tree-shaped cookies adorned with candy stars, gift ornaments, and pearl-dust accents make a festive holiday treat.
Ingredients
Cookie dough (recipe on p.118)
to taste
Royal icing (recipe on p.118)
to taste
White candy melts (for adhering and making candies)
to taste
Yellow candy melts (for making gifts)
to taste
Red candy melts (for making gifts)
to taste
Star candy mold (for making stars)
1
Classic gift truffle candy mold (for making gifts)
1
White, silver, gold pearl dust (for decorating)
to taste
Meringue powder (for royal icing)
to taste
Instructions
1
Make cookies in advance
Prepare and roll out the dough. For each dessert, make: 1 full Christmas tree, 1 half tree support (cut vertically in half before baking), and 1 round (use a 6-inch cake ring as a template). Bake and let the cookies cool completely.
2
Decorate the full tree cookie
Use a size 3 piping tip and full-strength royal icing to outline the Christmas tree shape; fill in with thin royal icing. Let dry.
3
Make dot decorations
Pipe 3/8-inch diameter dots with thin royal icing on a cake board lined with parchment paper, using a size 3 tip. Make 11 dots per tree. Let dry, then brush with pearl dust.
4
Make candies
Make candies (p.130). Tint a portion of white candy melts gray with black candy coloring. For each dessert, make 1 star and 10–15 gifts; use painting or piping methods to make bows and ribbons. Refrigerate until set. Brush bows and ribbons with pearl dust and sprinkle with pearl dust.
5
Assemble the desserts
Use melted candy to adhere the half tree support to the back of the full tree; let set. Use royal icing to attach the star and dot decorations; let set. Use an offset spatula to frost the round cookie. Stand the tree in the center and arrange the candy gifts. Each dessert serves 1 person.
