Turn my popular cookie cake recipe into adorable Christmas trees for your holiday platters. Just one 9×13 pan and no cookie cutters needed.

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@designeatrepeat
Oh look, I'm back 👀 (maybe) And with a new holiday series…SKIP THE SCOOP! Since launching my cookbook last year, I've been a big fan of the 9x13" pan and, if you follow along, I might just convert you to 😉 You can do this with your favorite choc chip bar recipe or get mine for free on my site. -- Where have I been?! Mostly on the other app 😂 But I did intentionally step back on here for a while because the nature of the platform makes it near impossible for recipe bloggers to thrive on here. The only way I can continue sharing free recipes that are tested countless times in my own kitchen is through visits to my website. Those visits help cover the real costs of ingredients, testing, and development. Not to mention the thousands of dollars it costs to keep a website running. Unfortunately, even mentioning a website here can throttle reach. I completely understand wanting the full recipe in the caption. Truly, I get it. But right now, real recipe creators are feeling the impact of algorithms & AI more than ever. If you want recipes that actually work and are tested by real humans, supporting creators by visiting their sites matters more than you might realize. So if you're looking for a recipe, it can be found (with lots of tips & tricks) on my website. And if you see someone asking for it in the comments, I'd love your help pointing them there, as well. Thanks for being here and baking along with me. ❤️
♬ Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee

4.85 from 13 votes

Christmas Tree Cookie Cake Bars 🎄

Makes: 24 slices

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Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 12

Total Time: 22

Recipe by Melissa Rose

Ingredients

Cookie Cake Recipe

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), You will be melting this
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, I like to use mini chocolate chips for this so that they slice easier

Frosting

½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2-3 tablespoons milk

⭐️ Before you begin! If you make this, will you do me a huge favor afterwards and leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe? This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350℉.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick) for 20-30 seconds, or until fully melted.
Using a spatula, stir in the ½ cup light brown sugar and ¼ cup granulated sugar until combined. Add the 1 large egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, then stir.
Stir in the ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Add the 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour and stir until combined. Fold in the 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Drop chunks of dough into a greased and parchment-lined 9x13" pan, then use a spatula or your hands (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) to smooth it out.
Bake at 350°F for 12-14 minutes, or until it looks slightly brown on top and slightly underbaked in the center. Remove from the oven and place the pan on a cooling rack. Allow the cookie cake to cool completely before removing from the pan.
To cut into trees, use the diagram below. This is also on page 16 of my cookbook.

To Make Frosting:

With an electric mixer, beat ½ cup unsalted butter on medium-high speed for 1 minute until smooth and creamy (if using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment). Gradually add 2 ½ cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and pinch of salt, mixing on low speed. Add 2-3 tablespoons milk, one tablespoon at a time, then beat on high for 2-3 minutes until creamy. Adjust the consistency with more powdered sugar or milk if needed.
For decorating, reserve ¼ cup of the frosting and color it yellow. Fit a piping bag with a star tip to pipe the stars, then color the remaining frosting green. Add sprinkles right away, as the frosting sets quickly.

Notes from Melissa

This is a double batch of my usual cookie cake frosting, which makes piping easier since fuller piping bags are easier to control. Any extra frosting can be frozen or used on other sugar cookies.

Gluten-Free: For those asking, I turned this popular recipe into the best Chewy Gluten-Free Cookie Cake!

Nutrition information is just an estimate but based on 12 servings.

Nutrition

Calories: 353kcal, Carbohydrates: 45g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 45mg, Sodium: 106mg, Potassium: 127mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 31g, Vitamin A: 380IU, Calcium: 30mg, Iron: 1.8mg

Did you make this?

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32 Comments

Kyle

5 months ago

Delicious! The consistency is soft and chewy with a warm buttery and sweet flavor that gets my mouth watering just thinking about it! Will definitely be using it again and again

Admin

Melissa

3 months ago

Reply to Kyle

Thank you so much for leaving a review, Kyle!

Kyle Mueller

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Christmas Tree Cookie Cake Bars