Description
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with these easy-to-make festive cookies. Soft, buttery, and perfectly sweet, these cookies are tinted with green food coloring and topped with decorative sprinkles to add a fun holiday touch. Perfect for parties or a delightful treat any time during the celebration.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Additional
- Food coloring (green or your choice)
- Decorative sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and ensure even baking.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, use a mixer to cream together the softened butter and caster sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, which creates a soft base for the cookies.
- Add Eggs and Vanilla: Beat in the eggs one at a time with the vanilla extract, ensuring each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next, creating a smooth, homogeneous batter.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour and baking powder to distribute the leavening agent evenly and remove lumps.
- Mix Dry Ingredients into Wet: Gradually add the sifted flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing gently until fully incorporated into a dough, being careful not to overmix.
- Color the Dough: If using multiple colors, divide the dough into portions and add food coloring to each until the desired shades are achieved for festive variation.
- Shape Cookies: Use a cookie scoop to drop dough balls onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them apart to allow for spreading during baking.
- Bake Cookies: Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden, indicating the cookies are cooked through but still soft inside.
- Cool and Decorate: Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack, then decorate with sprinkles while slightly warm if desired for better adhesion.
Notes
- Use room temperature eggs to ensure better mixing and consistent texture.
- Do not overmix the dough once the flour is added to maintain a tender cookie.
- For evenly shaped cookies, use a cookie scoop of about 1.5 tablespoons.
- Decorative sprinkles can be added before or after baking depending on the type; adding after baking prevents melting for delicate sprinkles.
- Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
