Shamrock Sugar Cookies

I racked my brain trying to think of something green to bake for St. Patrick’s day. All I could come up with was something with mint (original, I know) or pistachio and neither of those options appealed to me so I settled on sugar cookies.

And what could be more St. Patrick’s Day-ish than Lucky Charms? How about Lucky Charm marshmallows all over your shamrock sugar cookie?!? You can actually buy containers of these sweet little dehydrated sugar shapes at the Amish store in Branson. And you don’t need many…one, 1/3 lb. container for a mere $1.75 will be more than enough for your cookies. As I found out after buying THREE. Anyone need some extra sugar in their Lucky Charms cereal??? Let me know.

Thick Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

3 Egg Yolks

2 Eggs

1 c. Unsalted Butter, Softened

1 c. plus 1 T. Granulated Sugar

3 1/2 c. AP Flour

1 T. Baking Powder

1/4 t. Salt

1 T. Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions

In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each. Mix in the vanilla.  Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Cover dough and chill for at least one hour (or speed chill in freezer for 30 minutes…which is what I did).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. On a floured surface roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thick and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutter. (I used a 4-inch cookie cutter and got 30 cookies.) Place 2-inches apart on the baking sheets.

Bake for 8 minutes in the oven, rotating pans and switching racks halfway through. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost with buttercream and decorate(recipe below).

Buttercream Frosting

2/3 c. (10 T.) Unsalted Butter, softened

4 c. Powdered Sugar, sifted

6 T. Milk (I use heavy whipping cream)

1 T. Pure Vanilla Extract

1 t. Pure Almond Extract (optional)

Beat butter, sugar and milk about 5 minutes. Beat in extracts. Decorate with sprinkles, marshmallows etc. (Allow cookies to set out for a while and the frosting will eventually stiffen up.)

P.S. These cookies work very well on a stick. Just insert lollipop stick into the dough once they are on the cookie sheet and voila! Cookies on a stick!

P.S.S. The marshmallows will get soft once they have set on the cookies a day or so. Just fyi.