Every holiday should be celebrated with a sugar cookie! This recipe for an easy St. Paddy’s Day sugar cookie features a mint icing glaze that provides a great contract to the vanilla cookie. I love this recipe because the dough is so easy – no chilling, no sticking, no spreading. Just mix, roll, cut, bake and you are on your way!
This recipe makes anywhere from 10-30 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutter. Typically I get 2 dozen cookies per batch when using a standard size cookie cutter. For this recipe, I used a large shamrock that was about 4″ wide. I was able to make 11 regular cookies and 1 thin cookie.
You may need 1.5 – 2 batches of the icing recipe, depending on how thick you like your glaze. Be prepared with extra icing ingredients. I was able to frost all of my shamrock cookies with 1 batch.
To begin, make sure your butter is softened. If I am taking butter directly out of the fridge, I will soften it in the microwave at 50% power for 10 seconds at a time. You don’t want the butter softened to the point of melting – just enough that it slightly gives when you push on it.
Cream the butter and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl, and then add the eggs and vanilla. It may take a minute or two of mixing on medium-low speed for it to come together.
Slowly add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix at a low speed. The dough will start to come together. Test the dough by pinching a piece – it should barely stick to your fingers. If it is feeling too sticky, add a little flour.
Prepare your worksurface by dusting it with flour. Roll out your sugar cookies to 1/4″ inch thickness. I like to use 1/4″ wooden dowels to ensure my cookies are consistent in thickness. You can find these dowels in the wood-crafting sections at stores like Michaels.
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Shamrock Sugar Cookies
Difficulty: Beginner30
minutes10
minutes10-30
cookiesThe amount of cookies this recipe makes can vary based on the size of your cookie cutter. When I use a standard-size cookie cutter, I typically get 2-2.5 dozen sugar cookies. This shamrock cookie cutter is large, approximately 4" wide, and I made 11 cookies.
Ingredients
- Sugar Cookies
1 c. (two sticks) of butter, softened
1 1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
- Mint Icing
3 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp. corn syrup
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
5-6 tbsp. water
1 drop green food coloring
Directions
- Sugar Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick silicone baking mats.
- Cream together softened butter and confectioner’s sugar. Add the egg & vanilla to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until the egg is thoroughly incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add little by little to the mixture, mixing on a low speed so you don’t create a flour snowstorm in your kitchen.
- The dough is ready when it no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. When I touch it, it has a little give, but does not stick to my fingers.
- Roll out a small section of the dough onto a lightly floured countertop to about 1/4 an inch thick. I use wooden dowels that are ¼” wide to make sure my cookies stay the right thickness. Simply place two dowels on the parchment or countertop, and place the cookie dough in between the dowels. Place the rolling pin so that it is sitting on top of the dowels and roll out the cookie dough.
- Then, use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Place the cut outs on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake 8-10 minutes. The cookies will remain a pale color and the undersides will be a very light brown. Cool for at least a few hours before decorating.
- Icing Directions
- Whisk the powdered sugar, corn syrup, peppermint extract, and 2 tablespoons of water in a medium bowl or in a stand mixer. It should be quite thick.
- Continue to add water a little at a time to reach a consistency where if you drizzle a little of the icing with the whisk into the bowl, the ribbon of icing will hold for a second before melting back into the icing. See the video below to see the consistency I used.
- Once you have the desired consistency, add the drop of green food coloring.
Recipe Video
Notes
- If you start decorating and find that the icing glaze is too thick, add 1/2 Tablespoon more water. If it is much too thin, add 2 more Tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar. Add liquid or gel food coloring to achieve the color of your choice. If you are not using the icing glaze right away, cover tightly to prevent it from drying and getting hard.