½cup(125g) butter or vegan butter, at room temperature
¼cup(55g) caster sugar
1 ½cups(180g) all-purpose flour (plain flour)
For the icing
1cuppowdered sugarsifted (some reserved to make ‘snow’)
½teaspoonvanilla extract
2teaspoonswater
A few drops of green food coloring
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375F/190C.
Add the butter and sugar to a large bowl and beat until smooth.
Gently stir in the flour until combined to a smooth paste.
Lightly dust the work surface with flour, then tip the dough onto it and roll out to ½ inch / 1 cm thick. Cut into tree shapes with a cookie cutter.
Place the tree shortbread shapes onto a cookie sheet and place it into the fridge for 20 minutes to chill.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the shortbread turns lightly golden. Allow to cool in the tray for 2 minutes, then transfer the shortbread cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Decorate the trees with green icing to look like trees. If you want the trees to stand up 3D, you’ll need to trim the ends with a sharp knife to get an even surface.
To make the green icing, mix the icing ingredients to create a fairly thick, pipable icing. If necessary to get the right consistency, add a little more water or powdered sugar. Add to a piping bag with a small nib and decorate the completely cooled cookies as desired.
Try sifting on a little icing sugar for festive ‘snow’.
Video
Notes
Nutritional facts exclude decoration.Dough must be chilled for at least 20 minutes in the fridge to prevent from spreading when baked.If you don’t have a Christmas tree cookie cutter, simply cut the dough into triangles.Don’t roll your dough too thin as the cookies may burn. It’s important to keep them ½ inch thick.To get the trees to stand up as a nice display, cut the ends to make a surface that the cookies are able to stand on evenly.Cookies must be cooled completely before decorating as icing may melt.