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Irish Shortbread

Beautiful Irish Shortbread

Shortbread cookies with painted shamrocks
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 10 minutes
Chilling Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American, Irish
Servings 25
Calories 116 kcal

Equipment

  • baking sheets
  • parchment paper or silicone baking mats
  • shamrock cookie stamp
  • food-safe small paint brushes (one for painting leaves and a liner brush for painting stems)
  • cereal-sized bowl

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup cornstarch
  • ¼ cup extra flour (for dusting stamp and rolling balls)
  • 1 cup (8 ounces or 2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter cut into pieces (use Irish or other high-quality butter)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • green gel food coloring

Instructions
 

  • Place parchment paper (or baking mats) on baking sheets.
  • Add the flour and cornstarch to a bowl and whisk to blend. Set aside.
  • Place the extra (1/4) cup of flour in a small bowl and set aside to use later for rolling the dough balls in before stamping.
  • Add the butter pieces to a mixing bowl and mix until smooth and creamy. Add the salt, vanilla, and sugar and mix until well blended.
  • Add the flour mixture and mix until just blended. Do not overmix.
  • Use your hands to roll the dough into 1 1/4-1 1/2 inch balls. Roll the balls in the bowl of extra flour to coat them and place them on the baking sheets about 4 inches apart. Dust the cookie stamp with flour, tapping off any extra. Center the stamp over a cookie ball and press with uniform pressure until the cookie squeezes out the sides of the press. After you press all the cookies on the first baking sheet, move it to the refrigerator and chill for 1 hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes. Then, move them to a cooling rack.
  • Place a dab of green gel food coloring in a small bowl. Place water in another small bowl. Dilute the food gel with a drop or two of water. Use the larger brush to paint the shamrock leaves. Use the liner brush to paint the stems. Rinse the brushes in the water bowl after painting each cookie. Remove excess brush water with a paper towel.

Notes

Tips for Using a Cookie Stamp

Use these tips to ensure your stamped cookies turn out every time.
  1. If the dough is too soft to work with, chill it before rolling it into balls. Cold dough is less likely to stick to the stamp.
  2. Roll the cookie dough balls in flour before stamping them.
  3. Dust the cookie stamper with flour each time before you stamp. Tap to knock off extra flour stuck to the stamp.
  4. Gently pry the stuck dough off the stamp.
  5. Reroll and stamp again any cookies that tear when separated from the stamp.
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Nutrition

Calories: 116kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 1gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 25mgPotassium: 9mgFiber: 0.2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 236IUCalcium: 3mgIron: 0.3mg
Keyword Beautiful Irish Shortbread, Cookies, Decorative Shortbread, Handpainted Shortbread, Homemade Irish Shortbread, irish shortbread, Shortbread, Shortbread with Shamrocks, Stamped Shortbread
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