11+ Christmas Tree Decorated Cookies So Cute You’ll Almost Feel Bad Eating Them

Christmas cookies are non-negotiable. But let’s be real—you want cookies that look like they came from a fancy bakery, not like your three-year-old had a frosting incident. Christmas tree decorated cookies are the perfect solution: festive, fun, and way more forgiving than trying to pipe Santa’s face onto a gingerbread man.

Whether you’re baking for a cookie exchange, a holiday party, or just because you need an excuse to eat frosting with a spoon, these 11 Christmas tree cookie decorating ideas will make you look like a Pinterest wizard. The best part? Most of these techniques are surprisingly simple—no culinary degree required.

We’re covering everything from classic royal icing trees to modern minimalist designs. Some involve sprinkles (obviously), others feature creative piping techniques, and a few require nothing more than strategic cookie cutter placement. Ready to make some seriously Instagram-worthy Christmas tree decorated cookies? Let’s get baking.

1. Classic Royal Icing Christmas Trees

The OG decorated cookie that never goes out of style.

Ingredients

• Christmas tree-shaped sugar cookies (baked and cooled)
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp meringue powder
• 5-6 tbsp water
• Green gel food coloring
• Assorted sprinkles and dragées
• Star sprinkles or yellow icing for topper

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Mix powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water until smooth.
2. Divide icing and tint with green food coloring.
3. Thin some icing with water for flooding consistency.
4. Outline cookies with thick icing, then flood with thin icing.
5. While wet, add sprinkles as ornaments.
6. Let dry completely (at least 4 hours).
7. Add a star on top with a dot of icing.

Why You’ll Love It

This is the technique that makes cookies look professional. Royal icing dries hard and smooth, which means these cookies can be stacked without destroying your careful decorating. The key is getting the consistency right—thick for outlining, thin for flooding. Trust me, once you nail this, you’ll feel like a cookie decorating genius.

2. Drip-Style Christmas Trees

Modern, messy-chic, and surprisingly forgiving.

Ingredients

• Triangle-shaped sugar cookies
• White royal icing or buttercream
• Green candy melts or tinted white chocolate
• Gold star sprinkles
• Mini chocolate chips or candies for ornaments

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Cover cookies with white icing as a base layer.
2. Let base dry for at least 1 hour.
3. Melt green candy melts in microwave.
4. Drizzle melted candy in lines down the cookie.
5. Add ornament candies while chocolate is still wet.
6. Place gold star at top.

Why You’ll Love It

The drip effect hides imperfections beautifully—no one can tell if your drips aren’t perfectly even because that’s kind of the point. The candy melts are easier to work with than you’d think. I once tried this with actual melted chocolate and it seized up immediately. Learn from my mistakes and stick with candy melts.

3. Minimalist White & Gold Trees

For when you want to look sophisticated and artsy.

Ingredients

• Christmas tree cookies
• White royal icing
• Gold luster dust or edible gold paint
• Small paintbrush
• Optional: gold dragées

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Flood cookies completely with white royal icing.
2. Let dry overnight (this is important).
3. Mix gold luster dust with a tiny bit of vodka or lemon extract.
4. Paint thin lines on the tree to create ornament strings.
5. Add small dots of gold for ornaments.
6. Place gold dragées if using.

Why You’ll Love It

These look expensive and elegant without requiring expert piping skills. The gold luster dust transforms basic white cookies into something wedding-worthy. FYI, these are perfect for grown-up holiday parties where your guests pretend they don’t want to eat five cookies (but absolutely will).

4. Textured Buttercream Trees

Because not everything needs to be perfect and smooth.

Ingredients

• Christmas tree cookies
• 2 cups buttercream frosting
• Green gel food coloring
• Piping bag with star tip (tip 21 or 32)
• Sprinkles and candies for decorating
• Powdered sugar for “snow”

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Tint buttercream with green food coloring.
2. Fill piping bag with star tip.
3. Pipe rows of stars from bottom to top of cookie.
4. Overlap rows slightly to create texture.
5. Add candy ornaments by pressing gently into buttercream.
6. Dust with powdered sugar for snow effect.

Why You’ll Love It

Buttercream is so much more forgiving than royal icing. You can fix mistakes, it tastes better (fight me on this), and you don’t have to wait hours for it to dry. The textured look actually hides imperfections—those slightly wonky stars just add character.

5. Ombré Christmas Trees

Gradient vibes that look way harder than they actually are.

Ingredients

• Tree-shaped cookies
• Royal icing divided into 3 batches
• Green gel food coloring in varying amounts
• Piping bags
• Small offset spatula

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Tint icing three shades: dark green, medium green, light green.
2. Pipe dark green at bottom third of cookie and spread.
3. Pipe medium green in middle third and blend into dark green.
4. Pipe light green at top and blend into medium green.
5. Work quickly before icing sets.
6. Add white icing star on top.

Why You’ll Love It

The ombré effect is Instagram gold. The trick is working fast and blending where the colors meet with a toothpick or small spatula. I’ve done this in blues and whites too for a winter wonderland vibe. The gel food coloring is crucial—liquid coloring makes the icing too thin.

6. Stained Glass Christmas Trees

These look magical and involve minimal decorating skills.

Ingredients

• Christmas tree cookies with cutouts (use small cookie cutters to create shapes before baking)
• Crushed hard candies (Jolly Ranchers work great)
• Green royal icing
• Gold luster dust (optional)

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Before baking, cut small shapes out of tree cookies.
2. Fill cutouts with crushed candies.
3. Bake cookies—candy will melt and fill holes.
4. Let cool completely.
5. Pipe green icing around edges and details.
6. Brush with gold luster dust if desired.

Why You’ll Love It

The melted candy creates actual stained glass windows in your cookies. These look absolutely stunning when light hits them. Pro tip: use one color per cutout or the candies will blend into muddy brown. Not cute.

7. Naked Christmas Trees with Sprinkles

Sometimes simple is better, you know?

Ingredients

• Christmas tree cookies (use a good sugar cookie recipe that holds its shape)
• Green sanding sugar or colored sugar
• Simple syrup or light corn syrup
• Pastry brush
• Star sprinkles

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. While cookies are still warm (not hot), brush with simple syrup.
2. Immediately cover with green sanding sugar.
3. Tap off excess sugar.
4. Let cookies cool completely.
5. Attach star sprinkle with a dot of icing.

Why You’ll Love It

These require no piping skills whatsoever. The sanding sugar gives them sparkle and texture, plus they taste like pure buttery cookie goodness. I make these when I’m feeling lazy but still want festive cookies. The simple syrup makes the sugar stick without making cookies soggy.

8. Plaid Pattern Christmas Trees

Trendy, buffalo check vibes for your cookies.

Ingredients

• Christmas tree cookies
• White royal icing
• Red and green royal icing in squeeze bottles
• Toothpick for blending

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Flood cookies with white icing as base.
2. Let dry completely (4+ hours or overnight).
3. Pipe horizontal red lines across tree.
4. Pipe vertical red lines to create a grid.
5. Add thinner green lines between red lines.
6. Use toothpick to drag and blend slightly for plaid effect.

Why You’ll Love It

Buffalo plaid is having a moment, and these cookies capitalize on that. The pattern is surprisingly easy once you get the hang of it. The white base makes the colors pop. These are great if you’re sick of traditional green Christmas trees and want something more modern.

9. 3D Christmas Tree Cookies

Stack ’em up for maximum wow factor.

Ingredients

• Christmas tree cookies in graduated sizes (5-6 different sizes)
• Green royal icing
• Thick royal icing for “glue”
• Sprinkles for each layer
• Star topper

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Decorate each cookie with green icing and sprinkles.
2. Let dry completely (overnight is best).
3. Use thick royal icing to stack cookies from largest to smallest.
4. Let each layer dry before adding the next.
5. Top with star sprinkle or icing star.

Why You’ll Love It

These are showstoppers—like an edible Christmas tree centerpiece. The graduated sizes create dimension that flat cookies just can’t match. Yes, they’re time-consuming with all the drying time, but the final result is worth it. Make one impressive 3D tree instead of twenty flat ones.

10. Glitter Bomb Christmas Trees

For when more is more and subtlety is overrated.

Ingredients

• Christmas tree cookies
• Green royal icing
• Clear piping gel
• Edible glitter in multiple colors
• Small paintbrush
• Disco dust (optional but recommended)

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Flood cookies with green icing.
2. While still wet, sprinkle with edible glitter.
3. Let dry completely.
4. Paint small areas with piping gel.
5. Add more glitter and disco dust to those areas.
6. Admire your sparkly creation.

Why You’ll Love It

These cookies scream celebration and make everything else look boring by comparison. Edible glitter is the secret to cookies that photograph like a million bucks. Warning: you’ll find glitter everywhere for weeks. Worth it. 🙂

11. Chocolate-Dipped Christmas Trees

Because chocolate makes everything better.

Ingredients

• Christmas tree cookies
• 12 oz dark or milk chocolate, melted
• Green candy melts or tinted white chocolate for drizzle
• Crushed peppermint candies
• Gold stars
• Parchment paper

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Melt chocolate in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds.
2. Dip bottom half or entire cookie in chocolate.
3. Place on parchment paper.
4. Drizzle with green candy melts.
5. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint while wet.
6. Add gold star at top.
7. Let chocolate set completely.

Why You’ll Love It

The chocolate-dipped base adds richness that regular decorated cookies don’t have. The peppermint gives them a festive flavor beyond just “sweet.” IMO, these taste better than any other decorated cookie on this list, but I’m biased because chocolate is life.

Cookie Decorating Sanity-Savers

Before you stress yourself out trying to make all 11 variations, here’s what actually matters:

Make cookies the day before decorating. Fresh-baked cookies are too fragile. Day-old cookies are sturdier and easier to handle without breaking.

Consistency is everything with royal icing. Too thick and it won’t flow. Too thin and it’ll run off the edges. Aim for honey consistency for flooding, toothpaste consistency for outlining.

Invest in squeeze bottles. Piping bags are fine, but squeeze bottles give you way more control with royal icing. They’re like $3 for a pack and make everything easier.

Work in batches. Decorate similar cookies together—do all the flooding at once, all the detail work together. Assembly line style saves so much time.

Don’t be a perfectionist. Homemade cookies should look homemade. Those little imperfections are part of the charm. Anyone who judges your cookie decorating isn’t worth sharing cookies with anyway.

Time to Make Some Magic

There you have it—11 different ways to decorate Christmas tree cookies that’ll make your holiday baking actually fun instead of stressful. From classic royal icing techniques to modern drip styles and sparkly glitter bombs, there’s something here for every skill level and aesthetic preference.

Pick one technique and master it, or go wild and try several different styles. The beauty of Christmas tree decorated cookies is that they’re inherently festive—even if your decorating isn’t perfect, they’ll still look and taste like Christmas.

The most important thing? Have fun with it. Put on some holiday music, pour yourself some cocoa (or wine, no judgment), and enjoy the process. These cookies are meant to spread joy, not stress. And honestly, even the “ugly” ones taste delicious, so really, how can you lose?

Now grab those cookie cutters and get decorating. Your future self—the one posting gorgeous cookie photos and fielding recipe requests—will thank you! 🎄