Name: Christmas Tree Cookie Cups
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 85 min
Ingredients: 1 package (16 oz) store-bought sugar cookie dough ((24-count)); 24 miniature white chocolate Reese's cups (unwrapped); 1 container (15.6 oz) store-bought green frosting; red & green holiday sprinkles

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These cute Christmas Tree Cookie Cups are just what you need this Christmas season! An easy sugar cookie dough base, filled with a white Reese’s peanut butter cup, topped with green frosting to resemble a Christmas tree and decorated with sprinkles.

Also try these Christmas Tree Brownies – and for more cute Christmas themed cookies, try Easy Santa Claus Cookies and Easy Reindeer Cookies.

You won’t believe how easy these cookie cups are to make! The base is store-bought ready to use sugar cookie dough, it’s then filled with a white Reese’s peanut butter cup, and the ‘Christmas tree’ on top is just store-bought green frosting and sprinkles.

These are the perfect last-minute treat to make with kiddos, and I’ve heard that even Santa loves these things, and they’re so easy to make that you’ll have plenty of time to make them before he arrives.

Overhead pic of the cookie cups with trees on top

Ingredients Needed

Store-Bought Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough : This is the ready-to-use sugar cookie dough that comes shaped and ready to put on the cookie sheet.
White Chocolate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups : These are the regular sized peanut butter cups that come wrapped in the foil wrapper. They are white chocolate with peanut butter in the middle. Unwrap them before placing them in the cookie cups.
Store-Bought Green Frosting : If you can’t find the green colored frosting, buy a container of white frosting and use green gel food coloring to make it your preferred green color.
Holiday Sprinkles : These create the “lights” on the trees so use whatever sprinkle mix you want. Or use a couple sprinkle mixes to make the trees really sparkle.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a mini muffin pan (24 mini muffin tins in it) and spray it lightly with cooking spray.

Place one piece of the premade sugar cookie dough into each mini muffin tin.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool for a few minutes. While the cookie cups are still warm, gently press 1 white chocolate Reese’s peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. As you gently press it down, it will create a cup shape and the peanut butter cup should be nestled in the center of it.

Allow the cookie cups to cool for 5-10 minutes inside the warm pan. Then carefully remove the cookie cups to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Once the cookie cups are completely cooled, pipe the green frosting into a Christmas tree shape on top of each cookie cup. Decorate each tree with the sprinkles to resemble ornaments. It’s best to use a piping bag fitted with a small star shape to create a more precise tree look and shape. You can also use a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and make the tree that way.

Store these cookie cups in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to 5 days. Make sure you store them in a taller Tupperware type container so that when you put the lid on, it doesn’t smoosh down the Christmas trees.

For longer storage you ca also refrigerate them for up to 1 week.

Overhead pic of the cookie cups that look like christmas trees

Variation Ideas & Ingredient Notes

Try using different flavored Reese’s cups for a fun twist. There are so many varieties such as dark chocolate, Reese’s pieces, pretzel, caramel, etc. Make sure you are using the miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups that come individually wrapped in the foil. That is the size needed for the cookie cups.
Instead of sugar cookie dough try using chocolate chip cookie dough or peanut butter cookie dough.
Store-bought red frosting can be used in place of the green. If you can’t find the colored frostings, simply buy a container of white frosting and add some gel food coloring (red or green) until you get the color you want. Around Christmastime, it is fairly easy to find the green frosting in stores.

Pro Tips From The Test Kitchen

To remove the cookie cups easily from the mini muffin pan, make sure you spray each muffin tin well with cooking spray or you could line them with miniature muffin or cupcake liners. I find that spraying them does just fine. But you could also buy some festive and decorative Christmas mini cupcake liners and use those.
For a more precise and neat tree design, use a piping bag fitted with a small star tip to create the tree shape when making the trees. I have linked the products used in the recipe card below.
Get creative with the holiday sprinkles used! You could even place a star shaped sprinkle on top of the trees, or mix different sprinkles to really get creative when decorating the Christmas trees.

A cookie cup with a bite taken out of it

More Festive Christmas Treats🎄