Oversize Decorated DIY Cookies
Giant Shamrock
Sugar Cookie Recipe
Makes 8 Humongous 8- to 9-inch Cookies
MBE's oversized cookies begin with the same family recipe my mom made when I was a little girl whenever she baked sugar cookies for us kids to decorate for different holidays. In addition to the ingredients listed below, you'll need a basic heart shape cookie cutter (4-5" at its widest) and a ruler for the cookie assembly. For cookie decorating you'll also need a pastry bag and #1-2 and #4 pastry tips.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup soft margarine
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 2-1/2 cups flour
- 1 t. baking powder
- 1 t. salt
- green (1 or 3 different shades) sanding sugar
- gold sanding sugar
- green food color
- Royal Icing Recipe
Directions
Make the Sugar Cookie Dough
1. To make the cookie dough, in a bowl cream together first 5 ingredients, then add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix completely.
2. Separate dough into 3 balls, wrap each in plastic wrap and chill at least one hour.
Cut, Assemble & Bake Shamrock Cookies
3. Using rolling pin to flatten dough smooth to about 1/8 inch thick. For each big cookie you are making, cut 3 cookies using the heart cookie cutter. To create a stem for each big cookie, use a knife and ruler to cut one strip measuring 1" wide x 4" long.
4. Assemble each cookie as shown on a Silpat Non-stick Silicone Baking Sheet on top of a standard cookie sheet or on a circular cookie pan (10"-12" wide) with circle of parchment paper to cover bottom. Place the stem strip down first, then point the 3 hearts (bottom points) inward and pressing gently together to create the shamrock shape. Chill cut cookies in fridge for 15 minutes.
5. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes, until very lightly browned around the edges. Depending on which pan you use, you will be able to bake 1-2 large shamrock cookies in each pan.
6. Use spatula to remove cookies to a baking rack and cool completely before decorating.
Decorate Shamrock Cookies
7. Make one batch of royal icing. Add green food dye in small drops with toothpick until you reach the shade of green desired. Royal icing dries quickly when exposed to air so keep the bowl covered until needed. After you transfer the icing into the pastry bag and screw on a decorating tip, you will prevent further drying by keeping the tip moist with a damp paper towel standing in a tall glass.
8. You are now ready to have fun decorating your baked Shamrock Cookies. Using a #1-2 decorating tip, pipe a smaller heart within each heart as shown, leaving a border (approx 1/2" around the edge of the 3 shamrock leaves. Also, pipe around the stem edges.
9. Thin the royal icing slightly so in spreads easily. Then use a #4 pastry tip to flood the icing covering the entire stem. Use a spatula to smooth up to piping followed by immediately sprinkling the wet stem surface with green colored sugar.
10. Next, working on one leaf at a time, use the same icing flooding method to fill inside the piping and smooth out. Sprinkle green sugar on wet icing. Repeat on other two leaves.
You can, of course, use the same green sugar as the stem on all the shamrock leaves. For a beautiful but easy ombre effect like you see in this post, I used 3 shades of green sugar (dark, medium, light). To recreate this, ice and immediately sugar one leaf at a time working from center. First sprinkle a stripe of dark sugar across 1/3 of leaf, followed by medium sugar across the middle 1/3 of leaf, and light sugar across the rest, toward the leaf tip.
11. Allow to dry completely overnight, then use a dry pastry brush to remove loose green sprinkles on the leaves and stem.
12. Gilt the edges of each shamrock by using a small amount of white royal icing that has been thinned to the consistency of egg whites, then brush on using a small pastry brush. Sprinkle gold glitter immediately on wet surface and allow to dry, then use a dry pastry brush to remove any remaining stray sugar crystals.
Enjoy St. Patrick's Day
with your family!