Student Author: Makayla G.
Not sure how to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? I've got you covered. Celebrate by making these delicious Shamrock Cookies! You can never go wrong with cookies. You can spend time cooking with family and have a yummy snack. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Shamrock Sugar Cookies
Ingredients for cookies
¾ cups of softened butter
1 cup of white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp of salt
Ingredients for all natural green frosting
2 cups of spinach
1 cup of powdered sugar
2-3 tbsp of natural green food dye/ water/ lemon juice
Instructions
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla using an electric mixer. In a medium-sized bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the wet ingredients and mix till combined.
Make a ball out of the dough, wrap in plastic, and store in your fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Roll out half the dough to just under ½ inch between 2 pieces of parchment paper.
Cut out shamrock shapes using a 3 1/2 inch cookie cutter and transfer the cookies to baking sheets.
Note: the cookies will fill 4 half-size sheet pans.
If you don't have enough cookie sheets, bake one batch and then wait until the cookie sheet is completely cool before placing the next batch of cookies on it.
Keep the cookie dough as cold as possible before you bake them, placing them back in the fridge for a few minutes on the baking sheets if they become soft.
Bake on cookie sheets for 6-8 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.
For the All Natural Frosting
Place the spinach in your high-powered blender or food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and strain the pulp from the liquid.
You will be left with about 1/4 cup of green food dye.
Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl and add water or lemon juice and some of the green dye and mix to combine.
You may have to play with the amounts a little as you will need a lot more natural dye than if you were using artificial food coloring.
To achieve the color in the pictures, you will need approximately 2 teaspoons.
To frost the whole cookie, you want a thinner frosting.
To decorate the cookies with designs, you'll want the frosting thicker. Add more powdered sugar/ liquid to achieve the exact look you want.
Enjoy your Shamrock Cookies!
Works Cited
Stevens, Kristen. “Shamrock Sugar Cookies with Natural Green Frosting.” The Endless Meal, 22 July 2019, <www.theendlessmeal.com/shamrock-sugar-cookies/.>