Goooood morning, bakers and decorators! How is the end of February treating you? I hope you’re all making good use of that extra day and spending the time doing something fun! Everyones definition of fun is different… but I think that I’ve found some common ground here in this cookie. It celebrates a holiday, it celebrates alcohol, and it celebrates sugar. There’s gotta be something in there for everyone to enjoy, right? Let’s knock this project back!
This cookie is the second in my Shamrock Sprinkle series this year. To catch you up: the story so far is that I recently bought a package of big shamrock sprinkles on a whim and without a plan. Rather than let them disappear into my cookie supply hoard, never to be seen again, I decided to make a series of cookies that would feature that particular sprinkle. So far, we’ve tackled the Pot o’ Gold sugar cookie, and today we’ll move on to the Green Beer sugar cookie.
Ah, green beer. The thing no one really loves but everyone pretends to for one day of the year. This is a delightful cookie to make because it’s so instantly recognizable and fun- people react in the happiest way when they see it. And as a bonus- 100% less hangovers than with actual green beer! You can make this cookie in a few hours, which makes it another great option when that holiday party is sneaking up on you and you need to make something now– which is usually how I end up operating when it comes to bringing something to a party.
First things first- I made these cookies with an assist from my airbrush machine- click here to learn how to airbrush, and to read why it’s such an awesome and versatile tool have have in your decorating arsenal. With that said, you can absolutely make these particular cookies without using an airbrush, they will just lack a bit of the finer detail.
Materials Needed for Green Beer Sugar Cookies
- Sugar cookies, baked and cooled (find my recipe at the bottom of this post)
- Beer mug cookie cutter, available at Amazon
- Royal icing in several colors (find my newbie tutorial here, and recipe at the bottom of this post. All gel colors are available at Amazon in this set.)
- White at medium consistency
- Yellow at medium consistency
- A food grade marker to sketch a rough outline, available here at Amazon
- Shamrock sprinkles, available in-store and online at Michaels
- Airbrush pen and edible green airbrush dye.
- Optional: Cookie decorating toolkit, available here at Amazon
- Optional: Counter top fan to speed drying times. If you don’t use one, double all waiting times listed.
With all of our materials gathered, let’s begin!
Start by baking your cookies and allowing them to cool completely on a baking rack. When you’re ready to move on, grab your green food grade marker. Sketch out a few lines to trace with your icing. Make a scalloped bottom on the mug, and also draw out the rest of the foam shape up top.
Use your white royal icing and a #2 tip to pipe the bottom shape along the marker. Follow the line up the right side of the cookie, and loop around to create the mug handle, tracking back and forth several times to make a thick line. Give your cookie a shake or two on the counter to help the icing settle and blend. Give the cookies about an hour under the fan to harden and prevent color bleeds.
Now pick up your green royal icing and top it with another #2 tip. Pipe along the edge of the foam that you drew in step one, and down the left side of the mug and back up. Fill in the space created and allow time for the icing to set- about another hour. Now fire up your airbrush (skip this step if you don’t have an airbrush yet) and fill your pen with green coloring. Airbrush 4 vertical lines with your pen, starting at the bottom and moving upwards. Begin each line in the middle of a scallop shape (the deepest part of the green) and apply gentle pressure to the pen so your line doesn’t get too dark or wide.
For the next step, use your green icing (with a #1 tip now) to draw three vertical lines downward between the airbrush stripes, with just a little bit of a ‘hook’ at the bottom of each line to add dimension. While the green lines dry, you can use your white icing to fill in the foam shape at the top of the mug. Allow time for all the new icing for firm up- about another hour under a fan.
Next, use your white icing again to pipe and fill extra foam shapes on top of the bottom layer. Create several large foam ‘dots’ on the mug, with a few lower down on the left side to follow the dripping foam design. You can use your own artistry to decide how you’d like it to look! After you finish a cookie’s foam, press three or so of the shamrock sprinkles into the shapes and let harden.
And that’s all there is to it! You’ve made the cutest green beer cookies this side of Ireland. Make sure to ask me any questions have and to leave me your thoughts in the comments below. Until next time, try to avoid a sugar hangover and happy baking!
Foolproof Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In bowl, mix together 3 cups of the flour and baking power. Set aside.
- In separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the extracts and the egg and beat until combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Dough will be crumbly.
- Press dough together with hands, and roll out on a well-floured surface. Cut shapes and place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
- Refrigerate baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, remove when cookie edges are just barely golden. Allow several minutes to cool on sheet before moving cookies to a rack.
Royal Icing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 Tbsp meringue powder
- 4 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar sifted
- 1/2 tsp Karo syrup (optional)
- 1/8 tsp clear flavored extract (optional)
Instructions
- Combine water and meringue powder in a bowl and beat with mixer until frothy.
- Sift powdered sugar into the same bowl and mix to combine
- Add syrup and extract if desired
- Beat the icing for 4-5 minutes until it is glossy and holds a peak if the beater is turned upside down
Medium Consistency
- Continue to add water ½ Tbsp at a time until at desired consistency (icing should disappear into itself in about 5 seconds after being dripped back into the mixing bowl).
Flooding Consistency
- Continue to add water ½ Tbsp at a time until at desired consistency (icing should disappear into itself in about 3 seconds after being dripped back into the mixing bowl).
