Well. I spent about 2 hours earlier driving to 6 stores in search of a shamrock cookie cutter, and there was not one to be found. So I had to improvise. I found the right shape on a preschool teacher’s site, made it smaller, and used it as a template on my round cookies. I think they came out pretty cute. I just wish I had remembered to sprinkle some sugar on top before the icing dried.
I used Dorie Greenspan’s sugar cookie recipe and royal icing. Both of these were sort of an adventure, but I managed, so it wasn’t too challenging. I pretty much went by this guide that I found on Brown Eyed Baker. The step by step directions were very helpful. There is a link to the cookie recipe on that page as well.
I think that sticking with one color was a good call for my first time working with this stuff. Originally I was going to fill in the rest of the cookie with white, but I wasn’t at all sure how much icing the recipe made versus how much I needed. As it turns out, I had plenty of icing left over, but I didn’t have to worry about cleaning out my pastry bag and all that. These were rather time and labor intensive, but I did all the icing while listening to reruns of NCIS playing on TV behind me. So it wasn’t really too bad. I recommend giving it a try sometime.
And just for good measure, here’s a picture of me near the Guiness brewery in Dublin. I also recommend checking that out sometime.
Excellent job, Lassie!
Just now catching up – these look adorable! And sign me up for a Guinness tour anyday.