Shamrock Cookies
Treat yourself to these adorable St. Patrick's Day Cookies ... they're cute, easy to make, and so delicious!
Servings: 4 to 5 dozen cookies
Ingredients
For Cookies:
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup sour cream
- nonstick cooking spray
For Frosting:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- food coloring
- green sugar sprinkles
For Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 to 3 tablespoons milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- green food coloring
Instructions
Prepare Cookies:
- Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using stand mixer, mix together butter and sugar. Add vanilla extract and eggs (one at a time).
- Mix in ½ the sour cream, then ½ the flour. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
- Divide dough in half, then shape each half into a ball. Flatten balls into disks about 1-inch thick. Wrap disks in plastic wrap, then chill for at least 2 hours (or overnight).
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray two baking sheets with nonstick spray.
- Using rolling pin, roll out one disk of dough about ¼-inch thick on a lightly floured board.
- Use cookie cutters to cut dough, then transfer cookies to baking sheet, spacing at least 1-inch apart.
- Bake cookies for about 8 minutes, or until cookie bottoms are golden brown. Let cookies cool on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a baking rack to cool completely.
- Once cookies have cooled, decorate with frosting and sprinkles, or icing. Enjoy!
Prepare Frosting:
- Using stand mixer, mix butter until smooth. Blend in sour cream, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Mix in powdered sugar until smooth. Then add food coloring, if desired.
- If frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar until it reaches desired consistency. If frosting is too thick, add additional sour cream (or milk), about ½ teaspoon at a time, until frosting reaches desired consistency.
- Spread frosting over cookies with a butter knife or small offset spatula. Add sprinkles, if desired.
Prepare Icing:
- Combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a small bowl, mixing until smooth. Add food coloring, if desired.
- For thick icing (for lines), you will need about 1 to 1 ½ tablespoon milk. The consistency should be barely pourable. For thinner icing (used to flood cookies), you will need about 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons milk. Start with the smaller amount of milk, then add more (a few drops at a time) to reach desired consistency. If icing gets too thin, just add more powdered sugar.
- Transfer finished icing to decorating bulbs or squeeze bottles. Outline cookies with thick icing first, then fill in with thinner icing.
- Let icing harden before storing cookies. It can take up to 24 hours (chill cookies in refrigerator to speed up process).
Notes
The cookie dough is very soft and MUST be chilled for at least two hours before using. Feel free to refrigerate it overnight, if you'd like to make it in advance
This is the shamrock cookie cutter I used.
For best results, bake one sheet of cookies at a time. Keep any dough you're not using stored in the refrigerator.
To give the cookies a delicious Shamrock Shake inspired flavor, replace some (or all) of the vanilla extract with mint extract. You may also color the cookie dough green with food coloring.
This recipe makes about 4 to 5 dozen cookies, but the yield will vary depending on how thickly you roll the dough, how large your cookie cutters are, how closely you cut the cookies, etc.
Icing ingredients are for one batch. You will need to make at least two batches: one thick batch for outlining the cookies, and a thinner batch for filling them in.
Make sure to read the info before this recipe card for helpful tips, step by step photos, related recipes, and more!
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