Green-frosted St. Patrick's Day cookies with an Irish coffee-inspired twist. With coffee in the cookie base and Baileys Irish cream in the frosting, it tastes just like an Irish coffee in cookie form. Perfect for St. Patrick's Day celebrations!
We've made shamrock cookies with a special cookie cutter but if you don't have one, rounds are just as cute! Stick with the green frosting or try making the marbled icing from our Valentine's Day cookies with green food colouring in place of red.
For some more cute cookie recipes, try our chewy oatmeal scotchies, sweet flower cookies with real pressed flowers, or soft frosted sugar cookies (try topping with green frosting for a festive twist).
Jump to:
Ingredients
For the Cookies
For the Frosting
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Instant coffee: this can be instant coffee or espresso powder (use half the amount if using espresso). Don't use liquid coffee, it will throw off the quantities and make the cookie dough too soft.
- Irish cream: use any Irish cream, it doesn't need to be Baileys. You can substitute an alcohol-free version if preferred.
- Food colouring: we like gel food colouring but you can use any type. You'll have to test this a bit as every food colouring acts differently, so add bit by bit until it reaches the shade you'd like.
Method
Step 1: cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy.
Step 2: add the egg, vanilla, and instant coffee.
Step 3: beat again to combine.
Step 4: mix in the dry ingredients. The dough will be crumbly but hold together when pressed.
Step 5: roll out the dough and cut into shapes. Transfer the shapes to a baking sheet and freeze.
Step 6: bake the cookies for about 10 minutes and cool fully.
Step 7: beat the frosting ingredients together and tint green.
Step 8: pipe the frosting onto the cooled cookies and serve.
Top Tips
- Roll out on parchment paper: for the easiest transferring to a baking sheet, roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper. The dough is solid enough to roll out on a floured surface, but this is just a bit easier.
- Use vanilla sugar: to add an extra flavour boost to your shamrock cookies, try subbing vanilla sugar for plain sugar in the cookie dough.
- Set at room temperature: the frosting will harden very slightly at room temperature and form a very thin crust. This is good, because it means the cookies won't be ruined arranged on a plate, but it does mean that they can't be stacked fresh. To let the frosting harden a little, set the cookies out in a single layer, uncovered, at room temperature for about an hour, and it will be just right.
Recipe Notes
We much prefer to roll the dough out before chilling the cut-out shapes for a couple reasons. The dough is so much easier to roll out evenly at room temperature, and freezing on the cookie sheet makes the cookies even less likely to spread in the oven. It's a win-win.
You can also roll the dough out, cut into shapes, and then place the whole sheet into the freezer before taking away the excess dough. The reason we don't do that is because you can roll the dough out one more time, and chilling it makes it too hard to roll.
This frosting won't harden the way royal icing does. If you want a harder set icing, we recommend using that recipe instead. This one is a fairly soft buttercream that sets just enough for the frosting not to smudge right away, and it's really nice to eat.
How to Store
Storage: keep frosted cookies in a single layer in a sealed container at room temperature for a day, or keep in the fridge for up to a week. Plain cookies without frosting can be kept at room temperature for up to a week.
Freezing: place frosted cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Stack in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, place in a single layer again and thaw at room temperature.
FAQ
Can I make the cookies green?
This recipe isn't ideal for adding food colouring to the cookie dough base, because they're a little darker due to the coffee. We recommend sticking to green frosting if you want the Irish coffee flavour.
How can I make shamrock cookies without a cookie cutter?
If you don't have an appropriate cookie cutter, you can print out a shamrock shape on paper, cut it out, and carefully trace the shapes out with a knife on the rolled out dough. It's time consuming, though.
Why are my cookies hard?
If your sugar cookies often turn out hard, it'll be due to one of the following reasons: too much flour, reducing the sugar, over-baking, or over-mixing. Measure in grams, follow the recipe, watch the baking time (and get an oven thermometer), and mix until just combined for the perfect cookies.
If you make this St. Patrick's Day Cookies recipe or any other cookie recipes on the Baked Collective, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more baking, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
St. Patrick's Day Cookies
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
- 2 Mixing bowls
- Hand or stand mixer
- Rolling Pin
- baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Cookie cutters
- Fine mesh sieve
- Piping bag and tips
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups white sugar
- ¾ cup butter room temperature
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee or espresso powder
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
icing
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- 3 cups icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons Irish cream like Baileys
- Green food colouring
Instructions
Coffee Sugar Cookies
- Add the sugar and butter to a large bowl (or the bowl of a standing mixer) and use an electric mixer to beat on high speed for about 5 minutes. It should be fluffy and lighter in colour.1 ¼ cups white sugar, ¾ cup butter
- Add the egg, vanilla, and instant coffee and beat again until well combined.1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon instant coffee
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the bowl. Mix again until the flour has been well incorporated and the dough is mixed, but don't over mix. It will be slightly crumbly but hold when pressed between finger and thumb.2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Divide the dough into two parts for easier rolling. Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll the dough with a rolling pin to about ¼-inch (6-mm) thick.
- Cut the dough into shamrocks or your desired shapes and remove the excess. Any extra dough can be re-rolled once.
- Lift the parchment paper and place the cut-out cookies on a baking sheet. Place the sheet in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Place the tray of cookies in the oven and bake for 9-13 minutes, or until the edges are very lightly golden. The baking time will vary depending on the size of the cookie cutters. Repeat for the remaining dough.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the tray and let them cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Irish Cream Frosting
- Add the butter to a large mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy, a couple of minutes.½ cup butter
- Sift the icing sugar into the bowl and beat into a thick frosting. It will be very thick at this point.3 cups icing sugar
- Add the vanilla and Irish cream, and mix again to combine. Add the green food colouring a few drops at a time, mixing on low between each addition, until it's the colour you'd like.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons Irish cream, Green food colouring
- Only after the food colouring is added, the frosting can be thinned if needed with a little cream or milk.
- Frost the cooled cookies as desired and let them set for an hour at room temperature to let the frosting harden a little bit before storing. The cookies can be kept in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week or frozen for up to 3 months.