Shamrock cookies are a simple, fun, and tasty treat that everyone enjoys. Make this St. Patrick's day sugar cookie recipe to celebrate the holiday!
Easy to make and absolutely adorable, these Shamrock Cookies are the perfect St. Patrick's Day treat!
You don't even have to frost them! Just use food coloring and some colored sugar.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- No chilling necessary. A lot of other cut-out sugar cookie dough requires chilling, but I have never had to chill this dough.
- Freezer friendly. Save time by making a double (or triple!) batch of cookies at one time. They freeze well for up to 3 months!
- Fun and easy to make. This is the kind of St. Patrick's Day treat that kids love to help make!
Ingredients
See ingredient substitutions in the next section. ⬇️
To make these cut out shamrock cookies, you will need:
- granulated sugar
- softened salted butter - Leave the butter out for 1-2 hours before baking OR soften it in the microwave in 10 second increments. DON'T melt your butter! It should be bendy and pliable, not hard.
- egg
- milk - I have made this recipe with heavy cream, regular milk, and lactose free milk - all work!
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder- Before you start making the dough, test your baking powder to ensure that it's fresh!
📖 Time-Saving Tip - Testing Baking Soda or Baking Powder for Freshness
This simple little test can save you time and money, because if your leavener is expired, whatever you're baking wont rise in the oven! This test works for baking soda and baking powder:
- Add about ½ teaspoon of baking soda or powder to a small bowl. Stir in an equal amount of an acidic ingredient, like vinegar or citrus juice.
- If the solution doesn't start to bubble immediately, it's time to replace your leavener.
Substitutions and Recipe Variations
- salted butter: If you need or want to use unsalted butter, that's fine! If you do, I suggest mixing ¼ teaspoon salt to the cookie dough. You can add it at the same time you add the flour and baking powder.
- white granulated sugar: Feel free to use any cup-for-cup granulated sugar substitute. Monkfruit sugar is a good option.
- egg: Because there are so few ingredients in this recipe, I don't recommend using any egg substitutes.
- baking powder: To use baking soda as a substitute for baking powder in this recipe, mix ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar and ½ teaspoon baking soda to substitute for 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder.
- all-purpose flour: If you'd like to make gluten-free sugar cookies, substitute with any cup-for-cup brand of gluten-free all-purpose flour. Two popular brands are Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur Flour.
Recommended Kitchen Tools
There are a few tools that will help you to make the best sugar cookies ever!
Roller: I HIGHLY recommend this rolling pin. It comes with discs that allow you to control the thickness of the dough. No guessing or rolling some cookies out too thin or too thick.
Parchment Paper-I use paper rather than greasing the pan or using a silicone baking mat They never stick or break!
St. Patrick's Day Cookie Cutters
If you want to make other shapes in addition to the shamrock cookies, here are some of my favorite cutters:
- Clover Cookie Set - this is what I bought and recommend. It has 3 different sized shamrocks and other St. Patrick's Day shapes.
- 10 Piece St. Patrick's Day Set - these are very cute but unless you plan to ice them, it might be hard to distinguish the shapes.
- Single Shamrock Cookie Cutter - Another great option, but for a dollar more you can get more shapes, so I think that's a better deal!
If you want a cookie with no cut outs required, try these Lucky Charms Cookies!
How to Make Shamrock Cookies
Summary only. The complete recipe instructions are in the card at the bottom of this post ⬇️
- Make the dough, and color it if desired. The only thing to keep in mind is to add food coloring in small amounts at a time. A little bit goes a long way, and if you add too much, you can't remove it.
- Roll and cut the dough for shamrock cookies. I like to roll the dough to a thickness of ¼-inch, but you can roll it as thin as ⅙th of an inch.
- Transfer dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Be careful when you're transferring the cut out cookie dough - I like to use a metal spatula to prevent the cut-outs from breaking.
- Bake in preheated 400°F. oven for 5-7 minutes. The tops of the shamrock cookies won't be very dark in color. The edges and bottoms should be light golden brown.
Liz's Tips for the Best Sugar Cookies
- Get a good rolling pin: It's super easy to control the thickness of your dough with your rolling pin. You can roll the cookies thicker for softer cookies or thinner for crispier cookies.
- If your dough is sticky: You probably over softened your butter. Put your dough in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes-1 hour and it will be fine to roll out!
- Gram's Cookie Baking Tip: Add a piece of scrap dough to your cookie sheet. You can lift this scrap piece to check if the bottom of your cookies is golden brown rather than damaging one of your perfect cut out cookies!
- Watch when baking! These go from perfectly golden brown to burnt quickly!
- Measure your ingredients correctly - It is super important to measure your ingredients correctly, specifically the flour! Check out this tutorial on how to measure flour correctly.
- Use flour when rolling out the dough. Make sure to flour your work surface and the top of the dough/rolling pin when rolling out the cookie dough. Otherwise the dough will stick/be difficult to transfer the cut out cookies to a baking sheet.
We always serve these on St. Patrick's Day with Crockpot Corned Beef and Irish Farmhouse Soup!
How to Decorate Shamrock Cookies
You can decorate these cookies however you'd like. Here are some suggestions:
- Food Coloring - You can keep the cookies white and add green sprinkles, or color the dough with food coloring.
- Colored Sugar - I used classic green sugar on my St. Patrick's Day cookies.
- Sprinkles - Any jimmies or sprinkles will work.
- Buttercream Frosting
- Royal Icing- If you'd like to decorate with icing, feel free to use this royal icing recipe.
- Powdered Sugar Icing: You can dye the icing with food coloring, or leave it as-is. To apply the icing, use a piping bag and tip of your choice (or cut the corner off of a Ziploc bag). 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1-2 tablespoons of milk is a good starting point. Add more milk until the icing is thick but only add a TINY bit at a time, because it will thin out quickly!
Storing and Freezing
Store baked shamrock cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Placing a piece of bread in the container will help keep the cookies soft.
Freezing: Cookies may be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Place squares of parchment paper or wax paper between each cookie to prevent them from sticking together.
Freezing Unbaked Dough: If double-wrapped in plastic wrap and an airtight container, the unbaked sugar cookie dough will keep for up to 3 months. Allow it to completely thaw in the fridge before attempting to roll and cut it.
St Patrick's Day Sugar Cookies FAQs
Unfortunately, there is no way to make perfect shamrock-shaped sugar cookies without a cookie cutter. However, you can use the tip of a sharp knife to try and cut the dough into the shape of a shamrock.
Decorate sugar cookies when they are cool if you're going to frost them. Make sure they are completely cool, otherwise your frosting will melt. If you're just decorating cookies with colored sugar or sprinkles, add them to cookies before baking.
The easiest way to decorate sugar cookies is to use colored sugar. You can dye the sugar cookie dough to make a more festive treat.
Other Easy Cookie Recipes
Easy Shamrock Cookies for St. Patrick's Day
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter softened (2 sticks)
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons milk dairy or dairy-free
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder see Notes to substitute with baking soda
- 4 drops green food coloring or gel food coloring - use more/less as desired.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400℉. Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a large mixing bowl and electric hand mixer). Mix on high speed for about 2 minutes, until mixture is light and creamy.
- Add egg, milk and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed to combine. If using, add food coloring and mix on medium speed to combine..
- Add flour and baking powder and mix on low speed, until just combined. *Avoid over mixing, which can cause dry/crumbly cookies.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness. I recommend this adjustable rolling pin for perfectly rolled cookies.
- Use a shamrock-shaped cutter to cut out the cookies. Using a thin metal spatula, carefully transfer cookies to prepared baking sheet. If desired, sprinkle colored sugar or sprinkles on the top of cookies.
- After placing the first batch in the oven, gather your scraps, form into a ball and roll/cut out more cookies. Repeat until all dough is used.
- Bake in preheated oven for 5-8 minutes, until very lightly browned on edges. The tops may not brown much, and this is okay.Cookie Baking Tip: Add a piece of scrap dough to your baking sheet. You can lift this scrap piece to check if the bottom of your cookies is golden brown rather than damaging one of your perfect cut out cookies!
- Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on pan for 3-4 minutes, until they’re firm, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Helpful Notes and Tips From Liz
Cookies may be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Place squares of parchment paper or wax paper between each cookie to prevent them from sticking together.
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