St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Sugar Cookies ☘️
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Bring the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day to your kitchen and bake up some Irish luck, with these charming shamrock sugar cookies, perfect for celebrating March 17th! Made with our all-time favorite soft sugar cookie recipe, these tender shamrock sugar cookies are then coated in a festive green icing. Sláinte!
I love making these shamrock sugar cookies whenever I’m in the mood to celebrate all things green and a little bit festive. They’re sweet, tender, and the kind of cookies that somehow vanish from the plate almost immediately — I’ve learned to grab one early if I want to be sure I get one.
The dough is one of my favorites to work with. It rolls out easily, bakes up soft, and puffs just enough without spreading, so the shamrock shape stays crisp and defined. I use it year after year for shamrocks, but it’s just as reliable for any fun shape I feel like cutting out that day.
For a different green cookie recipe, try these matcha cookies! They have a subtly earthy taste.
Ingredients needed
These St. Patrick’s Day treats use simple baking ingredients that are pantry staples! This is what you need:
- Butter: Creamy, rich butter makes for a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- White sugar: Sweetens up the dough.
- Eggs: Act as a binding agent.
- Vanilla extract: Adds warmth and aroma.
- All-purpose flour: Provides the structure to perfectly balance chewiness and crispness.
- Baking soda: Helps the cookies rise and become light and fluffy.
- Salt: Balances everything out!
- Powdered sugar: To make the icing deliciously sweet.
- Water or lemon juice: Lemon juice gives a little bright citrus note to these St Patrick’s Day cookies, but you can also use water.
St. Patrick’s Day is unmistakenly associated with shamrocks, but you can use any cookie cutter shape you’d like before you bake and get ready to decorate. Decorating shamrock sugar cookies is half the fun! Keep it simple with some green frosting, or get creative with these ideas:
- Green icing: Check out or recipe notes for a method to making all-natural green frosting, or use green food color instead. Use a piping bag or icing pen to create polka dots with orange or white frosting around the outside, or make little patterns.
- Sprinkles: Use green, orange, and/or white sprinkles to reference the colors of the Irish flag, or get some adorable St Patrick’s Day sprinkles.
- Edible glitter: Sprinkle some edible glitter over your shamrock sugar cookies to make them shine! You can get a variety of colors.
- Good luck chocolate coins: Get some edible chocolate coins to decorate your cookies with, in theme!
- Chocolate drizzle: Melt white or dark chocolate, then drizzle it over the cooled cookies. You could also dip a corner of the cookies into melted chocolate.
Recipe FAQs
How do I store these St. Patrick’s Day cookies?
They can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for five days.
Can I freeze any cookie dough for later use?
Yes, you can. For the best results, wrap the cookie dough tightly in parchment or wax paper, then place it in a reusable freezer bag, such as a Stasher Bag.
Shamrock Sugar Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
Shamrock Sugar Cookies
- ¾ cups butter (softened)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Green Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- Green food color (see notes)
- 2-3 tablespoons water or lemon juice (see notes)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla using an electric mixer.¾ cups butter, 1 cup white sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a medium-sized bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and mix till combined.
- Make a ball out of the dough, wrap it in parchment paper, and store it in your fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out half the dough to just under ½ inch between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Cut out shamrock shapes using a 3 ½ inch cookie cutter and transfer the cookies to baking sheets. Note: the cookies will fill 4 half-size sheet pans. If you don't have enough cookie sheets, bake one batch and then wait until the cookie sheet is completely cool before placing the next batch of cookies on it. Keep the cookie dough as cold as possible before baking, placing them into the fridge for a few minutes on the baking sheets if they become soft.
- Bake on cookie sheets for 6-8 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.
Green Icing
- In a small bowl, add the powdered sugar and a few drops of food coloring. Then add 2 tablespoons of water or lemon juice and mix well. If you'd like a thinner icing, add a little more water.
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
Hey Kristen! Can’t believe no one commented oh these…so I have to! I’ve spent yrs looking for ways to successfully naturally food colour, without bizarrely tainting flavour profiles. This icing perfect.
Thanks!