March 17th celebrates the traditional date of death of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day also happens to be celebrated in more countries than any other national festival! Crazy, right?! But for most people, it’s just an excuse to drink green beer, dress like a leprechaun, and eat traditional Irish grub! And an excuse for me to make cute kitschy desserts too! This year, I’m not waiting around to find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow…I’m making my own pot of gold with these St. Patrick’s Day Golden Coin Cookies!
These St. Patrick’s Day Golden Coin Cookies look difficult to make, but they are actually SO simple! And they’re so much fun! I bought a few pre-made ingredients to simplify the process even more, but you can make this recipe from start to finish in just a couple of hours! And sorry, Lincoln…but this penny cookie cutter was perfect for this project. Hope you don’t mind being gold for a little bit 😉
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:
- 2 1/2 Cups Flour
- 2 Tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 Tsp. Salt
- 1 Cup (2 Sticks) Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 1 3/4 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Large Egg, Room Temperature
- 1 1/2 Tsp. Almond Extract
- 1/2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tsp. Milk
- Fondant
- Edible Gold Spray
- Icing (Royal or Buttercream) (I used this one)
- Coin Cookie Cutter (The exact cookie cutter I used is no longer available, but these are similar! – Penny, Dime, or Nickel)
In a medium sized bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and powdered sugar until it reaches a light and fluffy consistency.
In a small bowl, beat the egg, creamer, and almond extract. Add the egg mixture to creamed butter and sugar and beat on high until mixed completely.
On low speed, add the flour mixture to the bowl, in small increments, allowing the dough to come together after each addition. Once all of the flour is added and the dough has formed, add the sprinkles and mix again on low until evenly dispersed. Once mixed, form the dough into a ball and allow it to rest for 15 minutes in the bowl. (The dough should be similar to the consistency of play-doh).
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Prepare your rolling surface by dusting it lightly with flour. Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin, until it reaches about 1/4″ in thickness.
Cut out the dough using a round cookie cutter and then transfer the cut dough onto the parchment lined baking sheets, allowing some room in between each cookie. (They will spread a tiny bit).
Bake the cookies for about 7 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly puffed and are no longer shiny on top.
Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheets for 4 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
*If you’re not decorating the cookies the same day, you can store them in an airtight container, until you’re ready.
Roll out the fondant until it’s about 1/4″ thickness. (I used this pre-made fondant to save some time, but you can make your own homemade fondant if you prefer!)
Using your cookie cutter, cut out the coin shapes in the fondant and set onto parchment paper.
Using a little bit of icing, attach the cut out fondant coin pieces to the tops of your cookies. I used bottled icing to make the whole process easier and to save me from mixing up an entire batch of the stuff, but you can choose to make your own if you prefer!
Using the edible gold spray, spray the entire cookie and fondant top. Don’t forget the sides of the cookies too! (Depending on the spray, you may need to use two coats. I used two bottles to cover all of my cookies).
Allow the cookies to dry completely before serving.
These St. Patrick’s Day Golden Coin Cookies are really easy to make, but look like a million bucks 😉 Pun intended.
I love this fun St. Patrick’s Day DIY project too!
