Ice Cream Cone Christmas Trees

Want to make an edible Christmas craft with your kids that's fun and festive? These Ice Cream Cone Christmas Trees are a fun way to give your dessert table a festive makeover this holiday season! Plus, they taste great, too!!

Sugar cone Christmas trees

Christmas tree cones are a great activity to keep kids busy at holiday parties. They're also a fun, decorative dessert! You only need simple ingredients like store-bought sugar cookies and store-bought frosting make this sweet treat extra easy.

Don't worry! There's no cooking and piping skills aren't necessary with this simple recipe—all you need is a butter knife!

Ingredients you'll need

Please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for the exact measurements. 

Creative variations to try

• You can use waffle cones, too, as long as the bottom of the cone is flat.
• Homemade royal icing or buttercream frosting can be used instead of store-bought vanilla frosting.
• Make your own sugar cookies from scratch if you like. Try my easy recipe at the end of the post—it’s not your average sugar cookie!
• Don’t forget to place a star-shaped sprinkle on top of the tree!
• Dust the green icing with powdered sugar or coconut flakes to make snow-covered Christmas tree cones. How fun!!

Step-by-step instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. For complete directions, scroll down to the bottom.

Essential tools for this recipe

• You really only need a butter knife, BUT if you want to get fancy use a piping bag with a star tip or a leaf tip!

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Frequently asked questions (FAQ’s)

• Adjust how many drops of green food coloring you add to the white frosting to make a lighter or darker shade of green. You can always add more green, but it's hard to lighten frosting that's too dark!
• If you choose not to use a cookie base, stick the bottom of each Christmas tree cone to a small piece of wax paper.
• If you’re nervous about your little ones handling real butter knives, give them plastic knives instead. It'll work just the same.
• Let your kids pick their favorite candies for tree decorations—they’ll have so much fun with it!
• Make your sugar cone Christmas trees on a paper plate or a rimmed cookie sheet so they don’t slide off the edges when you move them to your holiday dessert table.

Fill the sugar cones with an assortment of candy for a special surprise for the kids on Christmas Eve! 🍬

Storage

These Ice Cream Cone Christmas Tree can be consumed immediately or stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. 

They can also be left out at room temperature and used as a decoration. However, they aren't very tasty once left out overnight.  

More Christmas cookie recipes

• The perfect holiday treat, Rolo Sugar Cookies are stuffed with chocolate and gooey caramel and rolled in green and red sugar crystals!
• These 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies taste like the holidays. They're crispy, rich, crazy good, and easy peasy, too.
• Pretzel M&M Hugs might be considered more of a candy than a cookie, but I'll tell ya: no one complains when they see 'em on a cookie tray!
• Perfectly crumbly and impossible to resist, Pecan Sandies always go first at holiday cookie exchanges—and these ones are no different.
• These White Chocolate Dipped Oreos are great during Christmas, but they're really fun and festive throughout the entire winter season, too!

Isn't this a fun activity and recipe? I think you'll have a blast making these fun trees with your littles! I'd love a comment below, or tag me with a photo on social media.

5 from 7 votes

Ice Cream Cone Christmas Trees

What is not to love about these fun and festive sugar cone Christmas trees? They will be the centerpiece of your holiday table!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe SaveSaved!

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time0 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 380kcal

Author: Deb Clark

Ingredients

• ▢ 6 Store bought ice cream cones
• ▢ 6 Store bought sugar cookies
• ▢ 1 16-ounce can vanilla frosting
• ▢ Green Food Coloring
• ▢ Assortment of candies and Christmas-colored sprinkles

Instructions

• Add vanilla frosting to a medium-sized bowl. Mix drops of green food coloring into frosting until you have your desired green color.
• Using an offset spatula or butter knife, spread green frosting on the sugar cone. Including around the bottom edge.
• Place the sugar cone onto a round sugar cookie. Press down, and be careful not to break the cookie or sugar cone. Allow to set for 10 minutes.
• Spread green frosting onto the cone. Once the cone is covered in green frosting, have fun decorating your tree using sprinkles, M&Ms, or other edible decorations.
• Top each tree with a star sprinkle, if desired.

Notes

You do not need to use the sugar cookie base. However, it does make it easier to turn the sugar cone while frosting.

You may use any kind of flat cookie such as chocolate chip or oatmeal in place of the sugar cookie.  

For a more decorative look you can fill a piping bag with frosting and your choice of tip and pipe frosting over sugar cone.  

Other options for decorating your Christmas Tree including using coconut, gum drops, peppermint drops, or ribbon candy.  The options are endless. 

Homemade frosting can be used in place of store-bought.

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Nutrition

Calories: 380kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 180mg | Potassium: 42mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 54g | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg