St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Cookies

Mint Shamrock Cookies – these cute little shortbread cookies are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. They have a delicate mint flavor, and just melt in your mouth.

I’m not a huge fan of using food coloring, but I do like to whip up green foods every year for St. Patrick’s Day. These little 3 leaf clover cookies have been a favorite since I was a little girl!

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner. Do you go all out at your house with fun foods and decor? I’ll admit that when St. Patrick’s falls on the same month as Easter like it does this year, I skip the decorating part. I do like to serve a few fun St. Patrick’s foods though!

These cute Shamrock cookies are a memory from my childhood. I remember rolling the logs in green sugar, and helping my mom form them into shamrocks.

We usually made them with mint extract, but almond is delicious too! You can make the dough ahead of time and store it in the fridge, so you can simplify things the day you will be serving them.

How to Make Shamrock Cookies

(To skip my tips and instructions, you can scroll to the bottom of the post and see the recipe card with the full recipe.)

Ingredients needed for these cookies:

• butter, softened to room temperature (I use regular salted butter in all my baking.)
• granulated sugar (plain white sugar)
• salt
• egg
• mint extract (I like peppermint extract.)
• Green food coloring (I prefer the gel food coloring, a little bit goes a long way, and it doesn’t thin out your dough like liquid food coloring can.)
• all purpose flour (I use unbleached flour, but that’s a matter of preference.)
• green colored sugar (I buy mine in the baking isle of my local grocery store, but you can make your own.)

Beat butter, sugar, salt, egg, extract, and green food coloring till fluffy.  Stir in flour.

Divide the dough in thirds and roll each section into a log about 1″ wide.
Roll each log in green sugar, then wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 2 hours or up to a week.

When you are ready to bake the cookies, unwrap one of the logs and cut it into 1/4″ slices.
To assemble cookies, place three circles on a baking pan lined with a silicone liner or parchment paper. 

To make stems, cut a circle into three strips. Place a stem at the bottom of the cookie, pressing it up in between the clover petals. Then use your fingertip to press in the sides of the circles to make a clover shape.

Bake at 350° for 7-8 minutes. Let them sit on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, then carefully place them on cooling racks.

HOW TO STORE SHAMROCK COOKIES?

If kept in an airtight container, the cookies will last for 4-5 days at room temperature.

You can also freeze them, but they are fragile. Lay them in a single layer in a container with a lid, then add waxed paper between layers if you need to stack them. They will last for about 3 months. 

If desired, you can freeze the cookie dough logs. Wrap them in two layers of plastic wrap. They will keep in the freezer for about 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before forming into shamrocks as directed above. 

VARIATIONS:

-After they are cooled, drizzle the tops of the cookies with melted chocolate. I’ve tried both semi sweet and white chocolate, and both are tasty.

-In place of the peppermint extract, use almond extract. So yummy!

-If you don’t have colored green sugar, you can make your own. Just place some granulated sugar in a small glass jar with a lid. Add a few drops of liquid green food coloring, and shake vigorously until sugar is green. It’s not quite as pretty as the coarser store bought variety, but it works in a pinch.

 

MORE ST. PATRICK’S DAY RECIPES:

• Pistachio Pudding Cupcakes
• Shamrock Cookie Cups
• St. Patrick’s Day Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Dipped Chocolate Chip Cookies
• St. Patrick’s Day S’mores Snack Mix

LOVE MINT? CHECK OUT THESE RECIPES:

• Best Ever Mint Brownies
• Green Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Easy Chocolate Mint Oreo Candies
• Oreo Mint Truffles
• Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mint Shamrock Cookies

(originally published Mar 4, 2013 , updated February 2020.)

See all my COOKIE RECIPES.