St. Patrick’s Day will certainly be a sweet one with these festive and delicious sugar cookies! Use my recipe for Soft and Puffy sugar cookies to create your own green themed cookies! Be sure to watch my video tutorials below for step by step help in creating these fun designs!
I love decorating sugar cookies for different holidays! It is the sweetest way to celebrate. Using these simple and easy techniques will help you to create beautiful cookies for your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations! Whether you are making them for a party, friend gifts or your family, anyone will feel special eating one of these beautifully designed, delicious sugar cookies!
In this post, I’m sharing three different designs with you. Be sure to watch each video to make it even easier to replicate these fun techniques!
Also, find my basic tips for piping below!
Sugar Cookie Recipe
For my famous Soft and Puffy Sugar Cookie recipe go HERE. It also includes the perfect buttercream recipe for decorating!
Technique 1: Marble effect
You can use 2-3 different colors to get this show-stopping, beautiful effect! It looks professionally decorated, but it’s really so easy to do!
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Drop a few spoonfuls of each color of buttercream onto the parchment. Space each spoonful about one inch apart.
- Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting, slightly combining the colors but keep them somewhat separated to create the marble effect. Spread the frosting to a 1/4 inch thickness.
- Place another piece of parchment on top of the buttercream and smooth it out with your hand.
- Freeze the frosting for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the freezer and peel back the top layer of parchment.
- Using a cookie cutter, cut out shapes in the frozen frosting. If the frosting feels soft, return it to the freezer for another 10 minutes. Sometimes you will get a cleaner cut, by dipping the cookie cutter in water before cutting out the shapes. Make sure you are using a cookie cutter that is slightly smaller in size than your cookie.
- Gently peel the frosting cutout from the parchment and place on top of the sugar cookie. As the frosting warms, it will soften and stick to the cookie.
- Use the excess frosting by gently pushing it together on the parchment, smoothing it out again and refreezing it. Repeat steps 6-8.
The marble technique is so beautiful! Use this technique for sugar cookie designs for different holidays or color themed parties like bridal or baby showers. It creates that wow factor that will surely impress anyone you serve them to!
Clover Sugar Cookies
What would St. Patrick’s Day be without a clover shaped sugar cookie?! I’m sharing two super simple techniques that can be easily replicated and take very little time to achieve!
Technique 2: The star frosted clover
This is one of my favorite techniques to frost a fancy looking sugar cookie in very little time. I am using a four inch shamrock cookie cutter. Use a medium sized star tip to achieve this look. I’m using an Ateco tip size 22. This is an “open star” tip. Find that tip HERE on Amazon.
- Fill piping bag with green frosting. I love to use gel food coloring. For these shamrocks, I use Americolor brand, Leaf Green.
- Fitted with the open star tip, gently release frosting in a single drop, releasing as you lift up and pull away the frosting tip. Start at the top of the cookie and gradually work your way down. Be sure to leave a bit of the cookie showing on the border – this helps accentuate the shape of the cookie.
- For the stem, start and the bottom and drag the frosting tip upwards, gently releasing pressure as you lift up and finish the stem.
I love the technique using an open star frosting tip! Use it to decorate different shaped cookies for other special occasions. It’s one of the quickest ways to make a beautiful cookie!
The more you practice these techniques, the better you will get. If you make a mistake, you can always scrape off the frosting and try again!
Technique 3: The simple outline and fill
This is a basic technique that every cookie decorator should have mastered. It is easy to do and can be used as a base for lots of other decorating.
- Fill piping bag with green frosting. I love to use gel food coloring. For these shamrocks, I use Americolor brand, Leaf Green. I use an Ateco size 6,7 or 8 frosting tip. Find that tip HERE on Amazon.
- Start by outlining the shape of the clover. Avoid dragging the tip on the cookie – you want to hold it just above the cookie and let the frosting fall in a steady stream while you move your hand.
- Go back and fill in the center, working from left to right, creating rows until the entire cookie is filled.
Important tips to remember when piping frosting onto sugar cookies
- Keep the bag twisted tightly to keep any frosting from oozing out. Keep adjusting as you frost.
- Apply pressure with your dominant hand and guide with your non-dominant hand.
- Practice on a piece of parchment first to get the hang of a new design. This will help you get a good feel for the pressure and control you need to use when creating a design.
- If you’re taking a break from frosting and want to come back to it later, place your frosting filled piping bag in an airtight container like a ziplock bag. This will keep the frosting from drying out.
- Don’t get frustrated! It takes lots of practice to pipe frosting onto a cookie. It can be challenging but so much fun too! Remember – you can always scrape the frosting off and start over. Don’t stress! Have fun!
Have so much fun creating and use these techniques to create your own beautiful sugar cookies!
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Be sure to leave a comment below if you make this recipe. Post and share your baking creations on Instagram and tag me @thatbreadlady. I love to see how you are enjoying my recipes with your family and sharing them with others!
More recipes to try
Chocolate Chip Mint Oreo Stuffed Cookies
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Love,
Heather