Candy Christmas Tree Cookie Cones
These edible candy cookie cones, or Christmas trees on a stick, are as much fun to make as they are to eat.
Each one of these unique candy-coated Christmas trees are on a lollipop stick.
The cones not only have candy decorations on the outside, but they’re filled with something sweet and slightly crunchy on the inside.
These adorable trees start their life as a sugar cone, and they just get better and sweeter from there.
Hidden inside of the sugar cone is…
…a cookie.
The sugar cone is filled with cookie dough and baked in the oven.
Then chocolate chips are added to the warm baked cookie, and a lollipop stick is put in at the “base of each tree”.
Once the cookie and chocolate chips cool, the lollipop stick is ready to be handled and the Christmas decorations can begin.
About the Christmas Tree Decorations
The cookie cones are then dipped in melted white or chocolate candy coating (candy wafers, chocolate coating, almond bark).
Next, candy decorations (mini-M&M’s, candy sprinkles, shredded coconut, mini chocolate chips) are quickly added before the candy coating starts to set or dry.
The type and color of the candy decorations on the cookie cones can be customized for any event or holiday and make a wonderful dessert.
Let’s check out the ingredients.
Sugar cones, premade cookie dough, chocolate chips, candy coating (candy wafers, chocolate coating, Almond Bark), candy decorations (such as candy sprinkles, M&M’s, or shredded coconut) and long-size lollipop sticks.
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
A printable recipe with the measurements and instructions is located at the bottom of this post.
For the Cookie Filled Sugar Cones:
First, remove the top rack in your oven so that when the sugar cones filled with cookie dough are baking, they won’t be too close to the top of the oven.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Remove the sugar cones from the package and put them in an upright dish for easy handling.
A sundae dish or tall mug works well for this.
For the Premade Cookie Dough:
Add about 1 tablespoon of premade cookie dough into the bottom of each sugar cone.
Premade refrigerated cookie dough generally found in the dairy or deli refrigerated section of the grocery store can be used.
The dough should fill about 1/2 of each sugar cone.
The empty space that’s left at the top of the sugar cone should be enough room for the dough to rise (if there is too much dough in the sugar cone it will run over the sides in the oven).
Set the cones aside while you prep the foil.
For the Baking Pan:
Squeeze each piece of foil into a tight donut-type shape with a small inner circle so that the tip of the sugar cone will fit tightly in the middle of the foil.
Lay each piece of crumbled up foil at the bottom of a bread loaf pan.
Add the sugar cones bottom side down (with the pointy side down) into the foil.
Squeeze the foil tightly around the cones so they stand up straight.
Add more crumbled up pieces of foil in the bottom of the pan if needed to prop up the cones securely.
If you’re baking a few of the sugar cones at a time, a bread loaf pan works well.
Or if you’re baking all of the sugar cones at one time, a large pan with similar depth such as a roaster pan works well.
Bake in a preheated oven (at 350 degrees F.) for about 18 minutes or until the cookie dough is cooked.
Keep a close eye on the sugar cones to make sure the tops don’t burn.
For the Chocolate Chips:
When the cookie cones are done, remove them from the oven.
Leave them in the baking pan and while they are still hot, add chocolate chips in the middle of the cone all the way to the top of the cone.
Then add a lollipop stick in the middle of each cone poking it through the chocolate chips and the soft cookie.
For the Lollipop Sticks:
Then…
…let the cookie cones cool completely while still in the baking pan.
For the Candy Coating and Decorations:
Add the candy coating to a small bowl and heat it in the microwave for 25 seconds.
Stir to move around the unmelted pieces.
Then heat it for another 25 seconds and give it another stir.
If it still needs more time heat it for another 10 seconds.
TIP – Decorate one cookie cone at a time so that the candy coating will be warm enough for the candy decorations to stick.
Hold the cookie cone by the stick in one hand and with the other hand dip the back of a small spoon in the candy coating and spread it on to the sides of the cookie cone.
Spread it on a bit thick so that there is enough area for the candies to stick.
Then immediately add the toppings to the candy coating so they will stick.
Let the candy-coated cookie cones completely cool.
TIP – Some options for storing the cookie cones while they cool are to put them stick side down in a tall mug, medium size glass, sundae dish, or in between the holes on a cooling rack stand.
Once cooled…
…it’s time to take a bite…
…out of these delicious Christmas trees.
Thank you so much for stopping by CCC!
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Candy Cookie Cone Christmas Trees
Ingredients
For the Cookie Dough Filled Sugar Cones:
- 12 sugar cones
- 12 long-size lollipop sticks
- 3 pieces of foil each one about 10 inches long
- 12 tablespoons of prepared cookie dough
- 12 tablespoons chocolate chips (semi-sweet or sweet)
For the Candy Coating and Decorative Toppings:
- 8 ounces vanilla candy coating (4 squares of vanilla Almond Bark)
- 8 ounces chocolate candy coating (4 squares of chocolate Almond Bark)
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup mini M&M candies
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup white morsels
- Colored candy sprinkles
Instructions
For the Cones and Cookie Dough Filling:
- Remove the lower rack in the oven so that the sugar cones filled with cookie dough won't be too close to the top of the oven when they're baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Remove the sugar cones from the package and put them in a tall upright dish for easy handling (open side of the cone facing up). A sundae dish or tall mug works well for this.
- Add about 1 tablespoon of cookie dough into the bottom of each sugar cone.
- The dough should fill about ½ of each sugar cone. The empty space that's left at the top of the sugar cone should be enough room for the dough to rise (if there is too much dough in the sugar cone it will run over the sides in the oven). Set the cones aside while prepping the baking pan with foil.
- Prepping the baking pan with foil that will hold the cones upright when baking in the oven:
- Squeeze each piece of foil into a tight donut-type shape with a small inner circle so that the bottom tip of the sugar cone will fit tightly in the middle of the foil.
- Lay each piece of crumbled up foil at the bottom of a bread loaf pan. Add the sugar cones bottom side down (with the pointy side down) into the foil. Squeeze the foil tightly around the cones so they stand up straight. Add more crumbled up pieces of foil in the bottom of the pan if needed to prop up the cones securely.
- If you’re baking a few of the sugar cones at a time, a bread loaf pan works well; or if you’re baking all of the sugar cones at one time, a large pan with similar depth such as a roaster pan works well.
- Bake in a preheated oven (at 350 degrees F.) for about 18 minutes or until the cookie dough is cooked. Keep a close eye on the sugar cones to make sure the tops don’t burn.
- When the cookie cones are done, remove them from the oven. Leave them in the baking pan and while they are still hot, add chocolate chips in the middle of the cone all the way to the top of the cone.
- Then add a lollipop stick in the middle of each cone poking it through the chocolate chips and the soft cookie. Let the cookie cones cool completely in the baking pan before adding the decorative toppings.
For the Decorative Toppings (apply after the cookie cones have completely cooled):
- Add the candy coating to a small bowl and heat it in the microwave for 25 seconds. Then with a small spoon, stir just a little to even out the unmelted pieces. Then heat it for another 25 seconds and stir until creamy. If it still needs more time heat it for another 10 seconds.
- Decorate one candy cone at a time so that the candies will stick to the warm coating.
- Hold the cookie cone by the stick in one hand and with the other hand dip the back of a small spoon in the candy coating and spread it on to the sides of the cookie cone. Spread it on a bit thick so that there is enough area for the candies to stick.
- Then immediately add the toppings to the candy coating so they will stick. Some options for storing the cookie cones while they cool are to put them stick side down in a tall mug, medium size glass, sundae dish, or in between the holes on a cooling rack stand.
- Let the candy coated cookie cones completely cool before serving.
Video
Notes
TIPS:
- Decorate one cookie cone at a time so that the candy coating will be warm enough for the candy decorations to stick.
- Some options for storing the cookie cones while they cool are to put them stick side down in a tall mug, medium size glass, sundae dish, or in between the holes on a cooling rack stand.
Dessert Recipes
Here are more fun desserts on a stick you may like “Gingerbread Cookie Dough Reindeer Pops“, “Funny Face Caramel Apples” and “Marshmallow Fun Pops“.
Holiday Recipes
More Holiday recipes you may like:
Thanksgiving Turkey Chocolate Cupcakes
How to Make Gravy from Pan Drippings
How to Barbecue a Turkey on a Kettle Grill
Pumpkin Pudding Puff Pastry Desserts
Comfort Food Recipes
Comfort Food Recipes you may like:
Candied Yams (Sweet Potatoes) with Pecans and Marshmallows
Candied Sweet Potatoes (Canned Yams), with Walnuts and Marshmallows
Baked Herb and Parmesan Potato Slices
Biscoff Cookie Butter Blondie Brownies
Curious as to what type of cookie dough works best. Did you use sugar cookie dough, chocolate chip cookie dough, peanut butter cookie dough? If you wanted to do this with homemade cookie dough, do you have suggestions on what parameters would come up with the best results?
Using a crockpot to heat the candy coating would work well to keep it spreadable without having to repeatedly microwave it between cones.
Hi Erin, I used the Nestle tollhouse cookie dough recipe; only instead of chocolate chips I added Heath toffee bits. I think sugar cookie, chocolate chip or peanut butter cookie dough should work just fine. If making these candy cookie cones with homemade cookie dough I would just make sure that the cookie recipe doesn’t have more than the normal amount of butter to flour ratio so that when baked, the cookie dough in the ice cream cones isn’t too soft for the lollipop stick to stand up straight (some cookie recipes may have extra butter in them so that the cookies are more on the thin and soft side). But after the cookie dough bakes in the cone, I would for sure add the chocolate chips to help with securing the lollipop stick (the chocolate with slightly melt and then will harden).
These are just too cute!!! I think i will make them for my son’s class. I just have one question….will the chocolate chips melt and harden or when you turn them right side up will they try to fall out? This is the only part i was unsure about but i may have just missed something.
Hi Leona, thank you for your comment and good question. The candy coating goes on pretty thick. It’s thick enough to hold on to the chocolate chips so that they can dry nicely where they are placed on the cone (the chocolate chips or lightweight candy decorations shouldn’t slide unless the candies are more on the heavy side like perhaps lifesavers or small gumballs). Thank you for stopping by!
Thank you for this great idea! How about the chocolate chips inside the cone? Don’t they fall out when you flip the cone?
Hi Evelina, great question. The chocolate chips are added right after the cones (with the cookie dough inside) come out of the oven. There should be just enough heat as the cookie dough cools to melt the chocolate chips so that the lollipop stick is secure. Thank you so much for stopping by.
This would make some really cute Santa hats with red melts and white sprinkles with a marshmallow on top.
Hi Cathy, what a cute idea! The Santa hat sounds adorable. Love the idea of the marshmallow top too. Have a great rest of the week!
How long are these good for after made?
Hi Jess, I actually left them out on the counter in the kitchen for about a week in between taking photos of them. I set them in coffee mugs with the stick end down and wrapped them in cellophane. They lasted nicely for about 4 days I believe it was and then the colors on the candies started to fade a little. They weren’t as shiny as the first few days after they were made. But they still tasted great. Thank you for stopping by!
These look great – although being in the UK we dont have ready made cookie dough (that I am aware of). Is it cookie or cupcake batter? I am presuming cupcake, so a sponge texture rather than biscuits as biscuits would be too hard surely?
WIll have to have a go and trial them both 😉 xx
Hi Stephanie, it’s cookie dough that is baked inside of the sugar cone. In the US the pre-made cookie dough is generally kept in the refrigerator section at the grocery store by where the pre-made biscuits are (the kind in the tube-shaped packaging). But maybe the markets where you are don’t have this sort of thing. The cookie dough works well to hold the lollipop stick in place. I’m not sure if cake batter would be strong enough to hold the lollipop stick but maybe it would work if the cake was more dense like a pound cake. Now that I mention it, your thoughts of cake batter sound really good in this recipe. I do agree that biscuit batter may be too hard in the cone. Would it work for you if you used a basic cookie dough recipe and cut it in about a third so it’s just enough dough to fill the cones. Maybe a sugar cookie recipe? Thank you so much for stopping by!
Wonder if it would be ok to use icing on the outside instead of melted chocolate?
Hi Kim, great question. I’m not sure if the frosting would adhere to the sugar cone but it would be worth a try. It sounds delicious! Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend!
I pinned this on pinterest just thinking what a great way to make Christmas “trees” instead of doing gingerbread houses. I had no idea there is cookie dough in there. I mean can you get better than this?! I can’t WAIT to make these.
Hi Jen, thank you for pinning this on pinterest. Yes, there is a bit of cookie dough added for a surprise under the Christmas Tree! And also so that the lollipop sticks would have something to hold on to. I hope you enjoy them. Thank you for stopping by and have a nice weekend!
Wow, beautiful idea, I have to remember this for this year’s christmas!
Hi Ronja, thank you!
nice..thanks..You gave me an idea for my grandbaby’s party
Hi Leonila, sounds like a great idea for your grandbaby’s party.
Thank you for the mention Boston Interiors Blog!
yummm, my kids will adore this project! thanks for the detailed tutorial. I included this in a round up on my blog:
Hi Christen, thank you so much for including these Candy Cookie Cones on your blog! I hope your kids enjoy making them! Have a great weekend.
Hi. I love this idea. I used it on my website and linked back to you. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hi Jennifer, so glad you like it. Thank you very much for putting this on your site. Love your site by the way!
How creative this is! I am sure you had a lot of fun making these and I love the end result. I have saved this recipe-great for little ones at Christmas. Buzz Buzz!
Hi Tina, thank you! It was a lot of fun…my only problem was that I kept snacking on the ingredients…but that’s a good problem to have.
That is just awesome! Soooo super creative! I love it!!
Hi Kate, thank you very much! Have a great weekend.
Love these! So fun and colorful! Awesome job!
Thank you so much! Have a great weekend.