Green Sugar Cookies [Recipe]
This is my special batch to serve for the St. Patrick’s Day celebration, so expect a lot of greens! Sugar cookies are simple-flavored and one of my favorite treats to serve with a good Irish cappuccino. I like them crunchy, flaky, and eye-candy-like.
This is a recipe for cut-out cookies, as playing with different shapes and colors is my love language. I colored the dough, but also couldn’t resist icing them in vibrant green. These are vanilla-almond-cappuccino-induced cookies that are incredibly aromatic and perfect for any palate. Let’s make these green sugar cookies!
How to Make Green Sugar Cookies?
The recipe is one of the simplest recipes for cut-out cookies, but still has something special to it. You can enrich the taste of usual ingredients with a few spicy additions. Here is everything you need to make these delish cookies!
- Flour – Use all-purpose or baking flour.
- Butter – Butter will give the signature aroma and flaky texture. I also add a bit of toasted almond butter to skyrocket the taste.
- Sugar – I like to use confectioners’ sugar for the smoothest texture. Granulated sugar is a fine option as well.
- Egg – Eggs give a crumbly and light texture.
- Irish creme powder – Irish cream cappuccino will deepen the flavor with its vanilla and choco base notes. You can substitute it with Irish coffee powder or a few drops of Monin Irish cream syrup. There is Baileys Irish coffee flavor, too, so that’s not a bad option either.
- Vanilla – I use vanilla extract to intensify the vanilla relish.
- Cocoa – Add cocoa to build up the chocolate note along with Irish cream. White chocolate powder is also a good substitute.
- Baking powder and baking soda – Use a bit of both to achieve a flaky texture and spreadable dough.
- Food coloring – I used powdered green dye to suit the theme.
Now, let’s bake some cookies!
Step 1: Making the Dough
In one large bowl, sift the flour and combine it with other dry ingredients: Irish cream powder, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, a pinch of salt, powdered green dye, and confectioners’ sugar. Melt unsalted butter and toasted almond butter and add them to the bowl along with vanilla extract and eggs.
Tip: By adding cocoa to the dough, the overall shade of green will become darker and deeper. You can substitute it with white chocolate powder, or totally skip it.
Mix the ingredients to fully combine with the help of dough attachments. The dough will probably crumble, so knead it by hand to form it into a ball. You may be tempted to add more flour, but don’t, plus keep in mind to not knead it too much.
The dough should be glossy, crumbly, and not sticky at all. Swathe it in plastic foil (or something similar) and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour to stiffen. That way they will keep their perfect shape while baking.
Step 2: Cutting Out the Cookies
Spread the dough with the help of the rolling pin directly on the baking paper. Spread out the dough as thick as you want it. I usually go for ¼ inch (6 millimeters) thin cookies, as I adore them crispy. Take your favorite cookie-cutter shapes, and cut them out.
I used clover and hat shapes to fit the theme. Arrange them on the cookie tray you covered with parchment paper, as well.
Step 3: Baking the Cookies
Bring your oven to 350 °F (180 °C) and toss your cookies in. I usually bake them for about 10 minutes and they come out extra crispy. They are ready the moment they are slightly colored on the bottom. Leave them to cool completely and ice or store them.
Step 4: Icing the Cookies
Whisk together powdered sugar, powdered green food dye, vanilla extract, and milk. It needs to be perfectly smooth and thick enough to keep the shape for a moment. Transfer it to the icing bag and color your cookies. Icing should flow smoothly. Leave it for about 30 minutes for the decoration to harden, and that’s all!
How to Store Green Sugar Cookies?
When it comes to storing, you can make the dough in advance and keep it in the fridge for about 4 days. It’s freezer-friendly, too, for about 3 months. For this, use zip-lock bags and squeeze out the air.
Keep baked cookies in a tin box so they stay fresh for days. At room temperature, they can last for 2 weeks, no doubt. Store them in an air-tight container with pieces of baking paper in between them to prevent them from sticking if you opt for storing the fridge.
How to Soften Green Sugar Cookies?
There are a few handy tricks to soften your cookies perfectly. Here’s how!
In the Microwave
A microwave is a perfect tool for this, but softness will only last for a bit, though. They will stay soft while they are warm, but the moment they chill to room temperature they will be hard again. So, microwave just enough to eat right away.
For the best result, wet a paper cloth and arrange the cookies on it, or warm them along with a mug of water. That way they will warm with the help of the steam, so 10-15 seconds is enough for them to soften.
Store Them With White Bread
Yes, you read it right! Just put a slice of bread at the bottom of the cookie tin, and leave for a day minimum. Dry cookies will absorb just enough moisture from the fresh bread. This way cookies will last for days, just make sure to replace bread slices regularly.
Store Them With an Apple Slice
This works by the same principle as white bread. Cookies will absorb dampness from an apple slice, but also keep an eye on it so it doesn’t rot and spoil your cookies.
Dip Them in the Hot Beverage
This is a convenient method to soften hard sugar cookies in a moment. They are certainly best served with a hot beverage, Irish coffee, or cappuccino in this case. Just dip the cookie in your coffee and hold it in for about 15 seconds to absorb enough water.
How to Cut Out Cookies Without a Cookie Cutter?
I wanted to make festive-friendly cookies, but I didn’t have clover and hat cookie cutters. I took a soda tin and cut it into strips. Then I made a shape out of it and it worked very well. You can also cut out the shape on the paper and use a small knife to trace it into the cookie dough.
Green Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- cookies cutters
- 1 Cookie tray
- 1 icing bag
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (380 grams)
- 4 tbsp Irish cream powder
- 2 tbsp cocoa
- 1 cup powdered sugar (120 grams)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- a pinch of salt
- 1 tsp powdered green food dye
- ½ cup softened unsalted butter (≈100 grams)
- ¼ cup softened toasted almond butter (60 grams)
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
Royal Icing
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (≈200 grams)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp powdered green food dye
- 3 tbsp milk
Instructions
Making the dough
- To make the dough, sift the flour and combine it with Irish cream powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa (which can be omitted or replaced with white chocolate powder), powdered green dye, and confectioners' sugar in a large bowl.
- Melt unsalted butter and toasted almond butter, add vanilla extract and eggs, and mix everything with dough attachments.
- Knead the crumbly dough by hand until it forms a glossy, non-sticky ball. Wrap it in plastic foil and chill in the fridge for an hour.
Cutting out the cookies and baking
- To cut out the cookies, roll out the dough on baking paper (I usually go for ¼ inch (6 millimeters) thin cookies). Now cut it into desired shapes with cookie cutters, and arrange the shapes on a parchment-lined tray.
- Bake the cookies at 350°F (180°C) for about 10 minutes until they are slightly colored on the bottom. Allow them to cool completely before icing or storing.
Icing the cookies
- For the icing, whisk together powdered sugar, powdered green food dye, vanilla extract, and milk until smooth and thick enough to hold its shape.
- Transfer the icing to an icing bag and use it to decorate the cookies. Let the icing harden for around 30 minutes before serving.
