Shamrock Cookies
| Category: | Sweets |
Ingredients
Spinach dye
| 1/2 cups spinach, coarsely chopped |
| 1 tbsp lemon juice |
| 1/8 cup water |
Dough
| 170 g butter, unsalted, room temp |
| 150 g white sugar |
| 1/2 bean vanilla bean, scraped |
| 2 tsp vanilla bean extract |
| 1 lg egg |
| 2 1/4 cups Frankie's gluten-free all-purpose flour blend |
| 1/2 tsp baking powder |
| 1/4 tsp Kosher salt |
Buttercream Icing
| 170 g butter, unsalted, softened |
| 360 g powdered sugar |
| 1/2 bean vanilla bean, scraped |
| 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract |
| 3 tbsp heavy cream |
| 2 tsp spinach dye, or more if needed. |
Shamrock Cookies Directions
To make the spinach dye:
Add chopped spinach, water and lemon juice to a pot and bring to a boil Let simmer covered for a few minutes until the spinach is well cooked (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and blend until smooth. Pour through a strainer. You can use just the liquid or a combination of the liquid and the pulp. This can be kept in the fridge for up to a few days for future use. Let cool completely before using.
To make the dough:
Begin by beating the butter, sugar, vanilla and vanilla bean seeds in a stand mixer. Beat well until the butter is light and fluffy. Next add in the egg and beat it until well combined.
In a separate bowl combine the Frankie's gluten-free flour blend with the baking powder and Kosher salt. Then add this to the wet mixture. Combine well.
Scrape onto a piece of parchment paper and lay another piece of parchment paper on top. Roll to approximately 1/4 inch thickness or 5mm. Refrigerate for at least 30-45 minutes. This allows the butter to firm up a bit and to allow the moisture to absorb the flour and to give you a nice consistency in the dough.
Pre-heat oven to 350°F or 175°C
Remove the parchment paper and roll on a well floured surface. Place used parchment paper onto cookie sheets. Cut out shamrock cookie shapes, or your favourite shape, and place on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool on the sheet before proceeding.
Icing:
Combine the butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds and heavy cream. Add spinach dye (if you're using the dye I made above, I'd recommend using a bit of the pulp to add to the colour. If you opt to use a synthetic food dye, just a few drops will do) and blend until well combined.
Spread onto the cookies or pipe with your favourite piping tip. I used a star piping tip.
The flour blend that I use is Frankie's gluten-free flour blend as it works cup for cup on everything that I've baked with and it's available online at: glutenfreefrankies.com and through Amazon, just search for "Frankie's Flour".
