Candy Melt Trees Recipes

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, gingerbread spice, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter, brown sugar and molasses in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add the flour mixture in two batches, beating until just combined. Divide the dough between 2 large pieces of plastic wrap. Flatten into disks and wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350˚. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out 1 disk of dough on a lightly floured surface until about 3/8 inch thick. Cut out trees using 2- to 3-inch cutters. (If the dough becomes too sticky, refrigerate 15 minutes.) Arrange the cutouts 1 inch apart on the prepared pans.
• Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are puffed and the edges are lightly set, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the pans, then remove the cookies to racks to cool completely.
• Roll out the other disk of dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out more cookies. Once the baking sheets have cooled, arrange the cutouts on the pans, bake and let cool.
• Make the icing: Whisk the confectioners' sugar with the water until smooth and very thick. Transfer the icing to a resealable plastic bag, snip off a corner and pipe on the cookies; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Decorate with the sunflower seeds.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment.
• With a short side of the prepared baking sheet facing you, arrange the white candy melting wafers on the prepared sheet tray in a 9-by-10-inch rectangle, leaving an empty 5 1/2-by-7-by-7-inch triangle in the center (vertically; this will be the Christmas tree). Fill the triangle with the green candy melting wafers. Place in the oven until the candy melting wafers are glossy and begin to melt, 3 to 4 minutes. Immediately use a small offset spatula to smooth and spread the white candy melting wafers. Use a clean small offset spatula to spread and smooth the green melting wafers. Go back over the triangle in small downward textured strokes to create the appearance of branches on a Christmas tree.
• Arrange the candy-coated chocolates in a decorative pattern across the tree to create a string of lights. Arrange the 5 yellow chocolates at the top of the tree in the shape of a star, setting each chocolate on its edge. Decorate the remaining space on the tree with gold sugar pearl sprinkles
• If using gingersnap cookies, break them into bite-size pieces. Decorate the white space around the tree with the whole gingerbread men or gingersnap cookie pieces, yogurt-covered pretzels, candied ginger and holiday sprinkles, leaving just a little white space in between. Let the bark sit at room temperature until fully set, about 45 minutes.
• To serve, break the bark into bite-size pieces.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Arrange crackers onto the prepared baking sheet.
• Stir butter and sugar together in a bowl until the sugar dissolves; drizzle over the crackers.
• Bake crackers in preheated oven until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
• Spread chocolate chips over the crackers to cover completely immediately after removing the baking sheet from the oven, allowing the residual heat to melt the chocolate. Sprinkle nuts over the chocolate layer before it re-solidifies.
• Cool the bark to room temperature. Once the chocolate is again firm, break the sheet into pieces to resemble tree bark.