A wee little leprechaun asked for something sweet and these St. Patricks Day Cookies have a surprise mint center that makes these tasty sugar cookies extra delicious to eat and perfect for a fun and festive St. Paddy Day celebration.
Just take a bite to find the surprise inside these cookies!
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Who doesn't like a cookie covered in sprinkles? Actually, anything with sprinkles calls my name, donuts, cupcakes, and candies, I always pick the ones with the colorful toppings.
These sweet little sugar cookies have something besides the sprinkles on top of the cookie, take one bite to find a surprise mint green cookie nestled inside. Hey, how did that get in there?
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☘️Why we love these cookies
This cookie recipe is super kid-friendly, they like rolling the dough into balls and then rolling them in the sprinkles. I know, my girls made these cookies all the time.
These cookies make great treats for school.
The best part about these easy sprinkle cookies is that you can change the colors of the sprinkles on the outside and make the surprise middle layer different colors and flavors.
In honor of St. Patrick and my husband's family the "Cassidy's" I am baking our favorite cookie that is decked out in the prettiest green and white sprinkles.
Here is another treat we love to make for St. Patrick's Day and they are so easy to make. These Lucky Charm Bars take just 4 ingredients and minutes to make.
Ingredients for the easiest St Pattys cookies
- Unsalted butter
- White sugar
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Eggs
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- AP Flour
- Green food color
- Mint flavoring oil, or use mint extractGreen food color
- Green and White nonpareil sprinkles, optionally, you can use green sugar sprinkles
The two special ingredients to make these cookies
I like to use nonpareil-type sprinkles which are just little round balls made from sugar and starch. I find the nonpareils work better than the jimmie type sprinkles, and they keep their color during baking.
For this recipe, you will need to buy green nonpareils and white nonpareils separately and mix them. It is hard to find the white and green together so I mix them.
You need to have enough sprinkles to roll the cookies in, so buying a bottle of each color will be enough. And, you don't have to mix the colors you can make them all white and all green.
I love using LorAnns flavoring oils in recipes, the flavors are more concentrated, and the flavors don't bake out like and extract does. There are several types of mint flavoring but the peppermint oil is what I use in this recipe.
How to make St. Patrick's Day Cookies: Step-by-step
First make the dough
Step 1. Add butter to a large bowl and mix on medium speed until creamy, then add the sugar, baking, and salt and mix to incorporate.
Step 2. Mix in the egg and the egg yolks on medium speed until combined.
Step 3. Mix in the flour on medium speed until a soft dough forms. This is the main sugar cookie dough.
Step 4. After you make the dough, measure out ¾ cup of the dough and put it in a small bowl. Add a few drops of green food coloring and the mint flavoring to this dough, Stir well to combine the color and flavor. Add more food coloring to get the green color you like. This dough will be the mint middle layer.
How to Roll the Dough Balls
Step 5. Put the sprinkles in a large bowl that is big enough to roll the cookie dough balls around.
Step 6. Measure out 1 tablespoon of the plain dough and roll into balls. You should get 25. Then measure out the mint dough with a teaspoon to get 25 balls.
Step 7. Flatten a large ball in your hand then put the green/mint ball inside the flattened dough and then fold up the dough and roll back into a ball.
Tip ~ Here is an important part of making these cookies. You have to roll that just-made ball into the sprinkles immediately while the butter in the dough is a bit soft, this way the sprinkles will stick to the cookie dough ball. Make sense?
Step 8. Place the balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a Silpat and bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees F.
These cookies make a festive treat, perfect for little leprechauns to enjoy while searching for the end of the rainbow.
Just checking, but do you have sprinkles all over your floor and countertop? There is just no stopping these little round balls from going everywhere.
Recipe variations
Same cookie different flavors and sprinkles
I have a bit of an obsession with these cookies and have made seven different flavors to celebrate the holidays. There are even cookies to celebrate baseball opening day which should be a major holiday in my opinion.
- Red Velvet Sprinkle Cookies for your Valentine
- Raspberry Sprinkle Cookies are perfect to put in an Easter basket
- Red, White, and Blue Sprinkles Cookies to eat while watching fireworks
- Orange and Black Sprinkle Cookies in honor of our beloved San Francisco Giants
- Halloween Sprinkle Cookies for the ghosts and goblins
- Christmas Sprinkle Cookies for Santa.
Recipe tips
- Have plenty of sprinkles to roll the dough balls in.
- Roll the dough balls in the palm of your hands to warm the dough, this way the sprinkles will stick better.
- If the dough is too soft to roll you can add just a bit more flour, like a ⅛ cup. Or you can chill the dough for 10 to 15 minutes just to firm it up before rolling it into balls. I rarely have too soft of dough except when it's blazing hot here.
- These cookies freeze well. After the cookies are baked and cooled place them in a freezer contain for one month.
Cookie FAQ's
It depends on the type of sprinkles you use. Mostly nonpareils and jimmies are the sprinkles used in baking. Nonpareil sprinkles don't melt when baked, but sometimes their colors bleed a little. Jimmies, melt slightly but will retain their shapes once cooled.
For sprinkles to stick to a cookie before baking the cookie dough has to be sticky. Make sure to add the sprinkles to the cookie as soon as you roll it, cut it out. or form it into a ball. When the butter or shortening in the dough is still tacky helps the sprinkles stick.
If the dough is covered in a lot of flour, this can also cause the sprinkle not to stick.
While flavor oils for baking tend to be more concentrated and pure tasting in flavor than extracts, both can be used to enhance your baked goods' flavor.
With flavoring oils, you need only a few drops instead of a teaspoon of extract.
Flavor the center with Irish Creme flavoring oil for a sweet chocolate and vanilla taste.
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More St Patrick's Day Desserts
Recipe
St. Patricks Day Cookies
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Ingredients
Cookie Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups AP flour
- ¼ teaspoon peppermint oil or use 1 teaspoon mint extract
- Green food color
- 4 ounces Green nonpariel sprinkles
- 4 ounces White nonpariel sprinkles
Instructions
Making and Rolling the Cookies
- In a large bowl mix the butter until fluffy. Then add the sugar, baking powder and salt; mix until combined. You can use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or use an electric mixer.If using a handheld mixer you may have to finish mixing the batter with a wooden spoon.
- Mix in the egg, egg yolks, and vanilla extract until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl.
- Mix in the flour until combined, forming a soft dough.
- Remove ¾ cup of the dough to a small bowl and add the mint flavoring and the green food color. Note: I just add a few drops of food color until I get the right color. Mix well to combine
Rolling the dough balls
- Measure out 1 tablespoon of the plain dough and roll into 25 balls. Then measure out 1 teaspoon of the mint flavor dough and roll into the same amount of balls as the plain dough.
- Flatten the plain dough ball and place a mint flavored dough ball in the center and mold the dough around it to make a round ball.
- Immediately roll each ball roll in the nonpareil sprinkles and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat rolling and molding each ball.
- Bake for 10 - 11 minutes at 375° degrees F.
- Store these cookies in an airtight container for up to five days. Or store in and airtight container in the freezer for one month.
Notes
Nutrition
First published: Feb 28, 2021, Last updated: March 3, 2023, for better readability.
A delicious cookie for an Irish Afternoon Tea
The tea is ready and the cookies are baked for our afternoon tea; perfect for a St. Patrick's Day dessert.
I will leave you with one of my favorite blessings ~
Thank you for stopping by the One Hot Oven blog. Please leave a comment to say Hello or just let me know what you are baking these days, I always love hearing from fellow bakers. Have any questions or just want to chat about the recipe? My contact information is on my about page, and I’ll be happy to help.
About Jere'
From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven sharing both sweet and savory family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.
Elizabeth Flight
Made these for a children’s St. Patrick’s Day party and they were a big hit! Everyone loved them and they’re so cute!