More Holiday Baking - Cookie Trees

Another holiday tradition is to make Cookie Trees each year on December 24. We make them for hostess gifts and some neighbouring families.
This how we start, Aunt Mary's Sugar Cookies.

• 1/2 cup margarine ( I use half soy and half real butter)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 small or medium eggs
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• few grains salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Cream the margarine, add sugar and cream a bit more. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix well. Chill the dough. Roll very on a well-floured mat. Cut into shapes.

Bake at 375 F for approximately 6 to 10 minutes

I sometimes tint the butter with green food colouring so that the star shaped cookies we stack into trees will create a green Christmas Tree.

We cut 5 or 6 graduated sizes of star shapes, 3 of each size. These are stacked from largest to smallest and each star is shifted slightly so that the points alternate. I drizzle an icing glaze over everything (looks like snow) and then sprinkle decors on the tress. Here is one from last year:

And when it is all dressed up, it is ready to go visiting...