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Gingerbread Christmas Tree

Firm, spiced star cookies stacked with stiff royal icing into an edible festive centerpiece — one tree, ten servings.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Chill Time 1 hour
Total Time 7 hours
Servings: 10
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Gingerbread dough
  • 1 cup 227g unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup 200g dark brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 2/3 cup 160ml molasses (not blackstrap)
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • 4 1/2 cups 540g all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 4 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
Royal icing
  • 2 large pasteurized egg whites OR 3 tablespoons meringue powder plus 5 tablespoons water
  • 3 cups 360g powdered sugar sifted
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • Gel food coloring optional (green for a tree look, or leave white for snow)
Decorating (optional)
  • Powdered sugar for dusting snow
  • Silver sugar pearls, sprinkles, or mini candies as desired

Method
 

  1. Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl for 2–3 minutes until fluffy. Beat in the molasses and the egg until combined.
  2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a separate bowl. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture on low speed and mix just until a firm dough comes together. Do not overmix.
  3. Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a disc, wrap tightly, and chill for 1 hour or overnight.
  4. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper.
  5. Roll one disc of dough to 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface. Cut stars: 3 each of 7.5-inch, 6-inch, 5-inch, 4-inch, 3-inch, and 2-inch stars, plus 1 extra 2-inch star for the topper — 19 stars in total. Chill the cut stars on their trays for 10 minutes.
  6. Bake similar sizes together: small stars 8–10 minutes, large stars 11–13 minutes, until the edges are firm and lightly darkened and the centers look set.
  7. Cool the stars on the pan for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack and cool completely, about 30 minutes. Never stack warm cookies.
  8. Make the royal icing: beat the egg whites (or the meringue powder and water) with the lemon juice until foamy, then add the powdered sugar gradually and beat until the icing holds stiff peaks that stand straight when you lift the beater and do not droop back into the bowl. Keep the bowl covered with a damp cloth so it does not crust. Tint a portion green if you like.
  9. Assemble on a board or flat plate: put a dollop of icing in the center, press the largest star down, then stack the next star rotated so its points fall into the gaps of the layer below. Repeat with 3 stars of each size, largest to smallest.
  10. Set the extra small star upright on top with a generous dollop of icing and hold it for 30 seconds. Let the tree set undisturbed for 4–6 hours, or overnight, before moving it.
  11. Decorate: pipe small icing dots on the star tips, press on sugar pearls or sprinkles, and dust the whole tree with powdered sugar snow.
  12. To serve, lift stars off one by one from the top down and pass them around.

Notes

Yield: 19 star cookies (3 each of 6 sizes, plus 1 small star set upright on top). Cool time: 30 minutes. Assembly time: 30 minutes. Setting time: 4-6 hours, or overnight.
The dough can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept wrapped in the fridge, or frozen for up to 1 month (thaw overnight in the fridge). Baked, undecorated stars keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. An assembled tree is best eaten within 3-4 days; if it has sat out on display longer than that, enjoy it as decoration and bake a fresh batch for eating.
Rescue tip: a clean wooden skewer pushed down through the center of the stack acts as a hidden spine for a tree that will not stand straight; carry the finished tree on its board with both hands, never by the top star.