Sugar Cone Christmas Trees Recipe

By
Leah Maroney
Leah Maroney
Leah Maroney
A recipe developer and food photographer, Leah Maroney is an ardent home cook and food blogger who has written over 300 recipes for The Spruce Eats.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 12/26/21
sugar cone Christmas trees

The Spruce / Leah Maroney 
Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 30 mins
Servings: 8 servings
Yield: 8 trees
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
388 Calories
12g Fat
67g Carbs
3g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 388
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g 15%
Saturated Fat 3g 14%
Cholesterol 6mg 2%
Sodium 204mg 9%
Total Carbohydrate 67g 24%
Dietary Fiber 1g 2%
Total Sugars 47g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 33mg 3%
Iron 1mg 8%
Potassium 90mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Beautiful sugar cone Christmas trees are an elegant and edible way to dress up your holiday dessert table. Easy and fun to make, this is the perfect craft for kids and adults alike.

You can prep them days in advance and they double as a dessert and adorable decor. Add them to your holiday centerpieces or use them to top a snow-covered cake or cupcakes.

There are only a few ingredients involved. We used a store-bought frosting, but you can substitute a homemade buttercream. Both offer gorgeous results. 

Ingredients

  • 1 (1-pound) container vanilla frosting

  • Green food coloring

  • Black food coloring

  • 8 sugar ice cream cones

  • Sprinkles and other decorations, for garnish

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients. 

    Sugar cone Christmas trees ingredients
    The Spruce / Leah Maroney

  2. Add a few drops of green food coloring to the frosting. Beat or mix together the frosting and the food coloring until the color is saturated. Add a drop of black food coloring in order to make the darker pine color. This is completely optional. You can make it as deep or light green as you wish. 

    Mix icing and food coloring
    The Spruce / Leah Maroney

  3. Place a “grass” or “hair” style tip onto your piping bag using standard couplings. If you can’t find this tip you can also substitute a star tip.

    Prepare piping bag
    The Spruce / Leah Maroney

  4. Fill the piping bag with the frosting and twist the end closed. 

    Fill piping bag with icing
    The Spruce / Leah Maroney 

  5. Pipe along the rim of the cone and secure it onto a small piece of parchment paper or wax paper. This will make it easier to decorate as it won’t slide around so much. Once finished, you can move it around by the paper and transfer it onto other surfaces with ease. 

    Stabilize ice cream cone with icing
    The Spruce / Leah Maroney 

  6. Pipe along the bottom of the cone, looking to fill in all of the space so that you can’t see any of the cone. You can make the strands longer or shorter based on how fast you pull the piping bag away from the cone. You can choose based on your personal preference. 

    Decorate ice cream cone with icing
    The Spruce / Leah Maroney 

  7. Continue to pipe along the cone, spinning or turning the paper as you pipe. Cover the entire cone. 

    Decorate ice cream cone with icing
    The Spruce / Leah Maroney

  8. Sprinkle the sprinkles and decorations over the frosting delicately. You can also gently place larger sprinkles onto the frosting. 

    Add sprinkles and decorations
    The Spruce / Leah Maroney

  9. Allow the cones to dry before trying to move them. They look lovely on top of white vanilla cupcakes or as a part of your holiday dessert tables. 

    Sugar cone Christmas trees
    The Spruce / Leah Maroney

Recipe Variations

  • There are many options and variations for decorations. You can use rope licorice as garland and mini M&Ms as colored tree lights. You can also find novelty sprinkles that look like tiny candy canes, snowflakes, and gingerbread men, which also look adorable as ornaments on the trees.
  • Coconut and powdered sugar also make great looking snow for a snow-covered tree. 

Tip

  • This is a great activity to do with the kids. You don’t have to pipe on the frosting; you can simply use a knife to spread the frosting onto the cones. Allow the kids to decorate with candies and toppings as they wish!