Why not celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year with some fun home made treats that the kids can help make. These delicious ice cream sandwich cookie treats are the perfect thing to take to any St. Patrick's Day party. When you bring this - oh, so worth it - cookies that may even forgive you for not being Irish.
A shamrock cookie cutter is the cookie cutter of choice but you can use any shape you like or simply make round ones. Try using a ginger bread cookie cutter and decorating him with green icing and shamrock candy sprinkles. Pipe a pot of gold at his feet and your cookie dough man (or lady) will be ready for his big day.
Use this same recipe for other holidays varying the food coloring and the shape of the cookie. Try hearts with a red cookie and strawberry ice cream for St. Valentine's Day or a Christmas tree shape and the green icing for Christmas.
St. Patrick's Day Ice Cream Sandwiches
What you need:
- 1 recipe Butter Cookie Dough (see below)
- 3 or 4 drops of green food coloring
- 1 pint pistachio or mint ice cream
- optional: shamrock cookie cutter
What you do:
- Make the cookie dough adding the food coloring when you add the liquid ingredients. Cover and refrigerate the dough until firm (at least 4 hours.)
- After the dough is chilled preheat oven to 350 F. Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out cookies with your favorite cookie cutter. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheets.
- Bake 8 to 20 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around edges. Remove the cookies from the cookie sheet and let cool.
- While the cookies are cooling take the ice cream from freezer; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly, about 10 minutes. Spread 4 to 5 tablespoons ice cream onto bottom of half of cookies. Place the rest of the cookies, flat side down, on ice cream. Press cookies together lightly.
- Wrap each cookie sandwich in foil or plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least two hours
Makes 6 to 8 shamrock cookie sandwiches.
Butter Cookie Dough
What You Need:
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
What you do:
- Combine butter, sugar, brown sugar and egg yolk in medium bowl.
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix dough well.
- Cover the dough and put in the refrigerate about 4 hours or until firm.
- Follow directions above for baking
Makes about 3 cups of dough
This recipe is originally from the Kids in the Kitchen column published in the print magazine Families First, written by Belinda J. Mooney.
