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Starting with a pre-made cookie dough, these easy St. Patrick’s Day Sugar Cookies are perfect for spring celebrations. Read a few simple tips for working with royal icing and make beautifully decorated sugar cookies for any season!
While these easy sugar cookies are decorated for St. Patrick’s Day, you can switch colors and candy sprinkles to feature any special occasion. Starting with pre-made cookie dough makes this a quick and simple recipe that’s perfect for getting the kids involved, too.
Begin by adding 1/4 cup of flour to a tube (30 oz.) of refrigerated sugar cookie dough. Roll out the dough to 1/4″ thickness and then cut out cookie shapes. This rectangular cookie cutter is great for getting even cookie bars.
Bake for 8 minutes, or until the edges just start to get golden brown. Set aside the cookies to cool completely before decorating. While the cookies are cooling, prepare the royal icing.
What you’ll need for royal icing:
- icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- meringue powder
- gel food coloring
- icing bottles
- or piping bags
- This Wilton Sugar Cookie kit on Amazon has everything you’d need including powder, gel coloring, decorating tools and an icing bottle!
After you’ve made the royal icing (full recipe below) then it’s time to start decorating!
Line around the edge of the design with icing and fill the middle. Use a toothpick to poke bubbles or direct icing into holes. Whether you allow the icing to completely dry or not depends on the type of design you want to create.
How to create simple designs using royal icing
For this zig zag design, before the flooded area dries, add stripes of different colored icing and then drag a toothpick through the stripes.
To create shamrocks, before the flooded area dries, add three dots of white icing, drag a toothpick through each dot, creating a shamrock. You can’t make St. Patrick’s Day Sugar Cookies without having at least one shamrock design!
For polka dots or sprinkles, add them before the icing has dried completely. Then be sure to set the cookies aside and allow the icing to dry for at least 4 hours.
To create a plaid pattern, allow the flooded icing to dry. Then add stripes of white and light green icing to the cookie in whatever pattern you like.
Any other designs meant to be added on top of the cookies (rather than mixed with the flooded icing) need to be added after the icing is totally dry. Edible marker can also be used for decoration, but only after the royal icing has dried for at least 4 hours.
If you’ve never worked with royal icing before, this is a great way to get familiar with the basics and create some really fun cookies that can be decorated for any holiday.
Check out these other St. Patrick’s Day recipes
- Crockpot Express Corned Beef and Cabbage
- Shamrock Rice Krispies Treats
- Copycat Shamrock Shakes
- Mint Brownie Trifle
Royal Icing for St. Patrick's Day Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- 8-12 tablespoons room temperature water
- Gel food coloring
Instructions
- 4 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons meringue powder, 8-12 tablespoons room temperature waterIn a stand mixer combine sugar and meringue powder. Add 8 tablespoons of water, using the whisk attachment, beat for 1 minute on low. Continue to add water one tablespoon at a time until the icing slowly drizzles from the whisk when lifted.
- Once prepared - if the icing is too hard, add more water one drop at a time. Too runny, add more icing sugar one teaspoon at a time.
- Separate the icing into small mixing bowls and add desired food coloring. Mix well. Scoop the icing into piping bags or icing bottles.
Notes
Nutrition
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Wendy Hampton says
What a fun recipe. It is easy and the intense colored frosting makes the cookie bar extra special. Definitely a keeper recipe!
Nicole Burkholder says
Thank you! I’m glad you like it. 🙂