Description
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with these festive and colorful sugar cookies featuring bright rainbow hues, shamrocks, and gold coins. Soft, buttery, and lightly tangy from cream cheese, these cookies are perfect for holiday gatherings and make delightful treats for both kids and adults.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Dough Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 3 ounces cream cheese
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Coloring
- Gel food coloring (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo/purple)
Instructions
- Cream Ingredients: In a large bowl, cream the softened butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar together until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract, then beat until everything is smooth and fully combined.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, stirring until a soft dough forms.
- Divide and Color Dough: Separate the dough into two main batches. Take one batch and divide it into four portions; the other batch into six portions. Use paste gel food coloring to tint the six portions each in a different color of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo/purple). For the four portions, tint two green shades (one darker) for shamrocks and two yellow shades (one darker, optionally add a bit of orange for contrast) for gold coins.
- Chill Dough: Wrap all portions tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours to firm up the dough before shaping.
- Prepare Oven: When ready to shape the cookies, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Shape and Bake: Shape the cookies into desired shapes such as shamrocks and coins or rainbow patterns. Place on lined baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes until the edges are lightly golden.
Notes
- Use gel food coloring for vibrant hues without adding excess moisture to the dough.
- If yellow shades look too similar, adding a bit of orange can create better contrast.
- Chilling the dough is crucial for easier shaping and preventing spreading during baking.
- Store cookies in an airtight container to maintain freshness and softness.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 139 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 37 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.3 g
- Trans Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 0.4 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
