Make the Basic Sugar Cookie Dough

• In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl using a handheld mixer, (or the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment), add the butter and sugar and beat on high speed until smooth and creamy, scraping the bowl occasionally to ensure the mixture is well blended.
• Next, add the egg, and vanilla, then beat on high speed until combined. Scrape the bowl and beat more as required.
• Add the dry ingredients a little at a time, to the wet ingredients and mix on low until fully combined.

Roll out the Dough

• Rip or cut six pieces of parchment paper, approximately 9” x 13”.
• Divide the dough into three equal parts.

For the Chocolate Peppermint (Mittens) Cookies

• Take one portion of dough, place it in a bowl, add the peppermint extract and cocoa powder and mix until well combined.

Roll out the Other Two Balls of Dough

• Place each portion onto a piece of parchment paper, then cover with a second piece of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out each piece of dough to about ¼-inch thickness (between 3/16-inch to ¼-inch works well).
• Place the rolled-out dough sheets on a sheet pan, stacking each one flat on top of the other. Cover with plastic wrap or foil, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven

• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cut out Shapes

• Carefully remove the top chilled dough piece from the sheet pan and place it on a flat work surface. Using the cookie cutter of your choice, cut the dough into shapes. Arrange the cut-out cookies on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
• Re-roll the remaining dough scrapes to the same thickness and continue cutting shapes until all the dough is used.

  The number of cookies will vary based on the thickness of the dough and the size of the cookie cutter.
• Repeat with second and third pieces of dough.

Bake the Cookies

• Bake for 11-14 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges.
• Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Decorate

For the Christmas Trees

• Make the Maple Vanilla Icing: In a bowl, combine the icing sugar, syrup, vanilla, and water, then whisk until smooth. (If required, you can thin the icing by adding 1 teaspoon of cold water at a time, until it is able to drizzle nicely but is not runny).
• Spoon the icing onto each Christmas tree, spreading it almost to the edges. Refrigerate until the icing is set.
• Melt the chocolate, then add it to a sandwich bag. Cut a very small portion of the corner off. Then draw a winding line up a tree, to mimic the wire of a strand of lights. Press the mini M&Ms halves (cut side down) onto the chocolate strand as the lightbulbs (alternating red and green).

For the Chocolate Peppermint (Mitten) Cookies

• Melt the white chocolate in a small ramekin. Carefully dip the cuff of the mitten into the white chocolate and place it back on the parchment lined sheet pan. Sprinkle the crushed candy canes on the white chocolate, then refrigerate until set.

For the Third Dough Ball

• Get creative and decorate the other cookies to your liking.

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