Green Cookies (For St Patrick's Day!)
When it comes to St Patrick's Day, I love celebrating with fun food! Whether it's Corned Beef, Reuben Sliders, or these Green Cookies, it's fun to be festive! These Green Cookies for St Patrick's Day are made with cake mix, and are super easy to make!
When it comes to holidays, I like to make easy but festive treats. This year for St. Patrick's Day, these Green Cookies will be my go-to St Patrick's Day treat! These green cookies are a spin on my cake mix cookies, which take a cake mix, along with other classic cookie ingredients, and results in delicious tender and festive cookies!
Cake mix cookies are honestly my favorite cookies to make - there are so many variations to be made! My Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies and Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies are my most popular, but the Double Chocolate and Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies are also so delicious. You really can't go wrong.
These cookies are perfect on St. Patrick's Day after a main meal of Reuben Casserole, Reuben Sliders, or Turkey Shepherd's Pie!
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Ingredients in Green Cookies
Butter - While many cookie recipes call for room temperature butter, I use cold, unsalted butter in this recipe. I start with cold butter so the cookies hold their shape without having to chill the dough.
Granulated Sugar - white sugar is the sweetener in these green cookies.
Eggs - This recipe uses two eggs and one egg yolk, which keeps the green cookies chewy and delicious.
Vanilla Extract
Baking Soda and Baking Powder - these are the leavening agents in the cookies.
White Cake Mix - this gives the cookies a delicious cake flavor and also keeps them chewy.
Green Food Coloring - food coloring is how we get these festive green St. Patrick's Day cookies! You can use green gel food coloring or traditional green food dye.
All-Purpose Flour - unbleached all purpose flour is my go-to flour for dessert baking.
How to Make Green Cookies
This is an easy recipe for green sugar cookies made with cake mix!
Prep. Prepare for making this recipe by preheating the oven to 375 degrees F and lining two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Beat the butter. Place the cubed butter in a large bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl and using a hand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat for 1 minute to get the butter creamy.
Add the sugar. Add the granulated sugar and beat another minute, until mixed well.
Add the eggs. One at a time, add the eggs and egg yolk to the butter mixture. I find I have to scrape down the edges a few times since we are using cold butter.
Add the dry ingredients. Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt, followed by the white cake mix and flour, beating until well combined.
Add the food coloring. Add the green food coloring and beat util combined. Again, scrape down the edges of the bowls to make sure there aren't any streaks or parts of the dough that don't have food coloring. You can add a little bit of green food coloring for lighter green cookies or more for a more bright color of green.
Form into cookie dough balls. Make 3 tablespoon-sized cookie dough balls and place them on the prepared cookie sheet, at least 3" apart.
Bake. Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 8 minutes. Let them cool for 10 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Make the frosting. In a medium bowl with electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla, until well combined. Add the salt and powdered sugar and beat to combine. Add additional green food coloring, if desired.
Frost the cookies. Spread the cream cheese frosting on each cookie and then top with sprinkles, as desired. Enjoy!
Storage. Store cookies in an airtight container in the fridge, for 3-4 days.
Christmas or St Patrick's Day Cookies
Not only are these green cake mix cookies perfect for St. Patrick's Day, but they could also be great for Christmas cookies! You could divide the dough in half and do half green and half red for fun Christmas treats, or make them all green. A tiny red heart sprinkle on them would also make them into adorable Grinch cookies, or you could fold in some red m&m's.
Green Cookies Tips and Variations
Add mint flavor. Add 1 teaspoon of mint extract instead of vanilla extract to make these green cookies into green mint cookies! Or try my Andes Mint Cookies!
Add chocolate chips. This cookie recipe is super flexible and 1 cup of chocolate chips would be delicious.
Get fun with the sprinkles. For St Patrick's Day green cookies, I used green sprinkles but I think gold sprinkles would be fun, too! Rainbow sprinkles would also be festive and great additions. For the Christmas holiday, red sprinkles would be really fun and great for holiday parties.
Check out More St. Patrick's Day Recipes:
Green Cookies (For St. Patrick's Day!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter cut into 1 tablespoon chunks
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 box white cake mix
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 5-10 drops green food coloring
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- green food coloring if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl with electric mixer beat the butter until creamy, about 1 minute.
- Add the sugar, and beat until well combined, about 1 minute.
- Add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, scraping down the edges of the bowl after each addition.
- Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine.
- Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix well.
- Add the cake mix, beat to combine, and then add the flour, beating well to combine.
- Add the food coloring, starting with 5 drops, and beat to combine. Be sure to scrape down the edges so it is incorporated with all of the dough. Add more food coloring, as desired, to reach your desired level of green.
- Form into cookie dough balls that are approximately 3 tablespoons.
- Place onto prepared baking sheets, about 3" apart.
- Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until creamy.
- Add the salt and powdered sugar, beating to combine.
- Add additional green food coloring, if desired.
- Frost the cookies and then decorate with sprinkles as desired.
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Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- These can be made other colors, too. Just swap green food coloring for whatever color you'd like!
- Add 1 teaspoon of mint extract for some mint flavor.
- This recipe starts with cold butter. That is on purpose! If you start with room temperature butter, the cookies will spread too much and you will end up with flat cookies.
