Christmas Tree Cookies

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
2. Divide dough in half. Tint half of the dough green; knead well to distribute color evenly. Leave remaining dough white. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
3. Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Use tree-shaped cookie cutters with identical shapes, measuring 2-1/2 in., 3 in., 4 in. and 4-1/2 in. Cut out an even number of cookies with each size cookie cutter.
4. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 8-10 minutes. Immediately cut half of each size tree cookies in half from top to bottom. If tree cookie cutters have trunks, trim trunks off trees, creating a flat base. Remove to wire racks to cool.
5. For frosting, in a large bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, water, meringue powder, vanilla and cream of tartar. Beat on high speed for 8-10 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Divide frosting in half. Tint half of the frosting green; leave remaining frosting white. Cover frosting with damp paper towels between uses.
6. To glaze trees: In a small bowl, thin 1 cup green frosting with 2-3 Tbsp. water until frosting reaches pourable consistency. Place matching pairs of whole and halved cookies on a wire rack over waxed paper. Pour icing over cookies; spread with a metal spatula to completely cover top and sides of cookies. Let dry completely. Assemble and decorate as desired according to directions below.
7. To make a 4-sided tree: Using a pastry bag fitted with a #5 round pastry tip, pipe a line of green or white frosting to match the tree you are decorating. Pipe a line of frosting along the cut edge of 1 of the halved cookies; press frosted edge along center of a matching whole cookie. Let dry until firm. Stand up partially assembled tree. Attach 1 matching cookie half to the opposite side of the tree by piping frosting along the center of the whole cookie. Let dry completely. Decorate as desired.
8. To make an 8-sided tree: Assemble as described for 4-sided tree, using white or green cookies. Using matching colored frosting, attach 4 more cookie halves; halves should be a half-size smaller than whole center cookie. Let dry completely. Decorate as desired.
9. To make Christmas lights decoration: Using a pastry bag fitted with a #2 round pastry tip, pipe cords with green frosting. Attach sprinkles for lights. Let dry completely.
10. To make snow-tipped decoration: Using a pastry bag fitted with a #8 round pastry tip, pipe snow on tips of branches with white frosting. Sprinkle with edible glitter. Let dry completely.
11. To make garland decoration: Using pastry bag fitted with a #21 star pastry tip, pipe garlands around trees with white or green frosting. Decorate with sprinkles if desired. Let dry completely.