Butter Twist St. Patrick's Day Cookies

"Never iron a four-leaf clover because you don't want to press your luck - Daryl Stout. Along with these words of wisdom, I'd also like to share these St. Patrick's Day inspired cookies! My son was thrilled to bring these to school to share with his class today.



They are dressed up butter twists from Martha Stewart's Cookies. Part shortbread, part sugar cookie, all buttery delicious and crisp.

I made this recipe in two parts. The first time without food coloring and the second time I added a bunch of green food coloring for the St. Patrick's Day theme. I found it easier and quicker to just make 2 separate smaller batches - one color per batch - instead of making one larger batch and dividing it to color it. Besides, this dough is a one-bowl wonder. So simple that you would even be able to make a whole rainbow of colors in no time if you wanted to.

Another nice thing is that the dough doesn't need any refrigeration before using, although you could make the dough ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for a few days until you are ready to bake it. It handles really easily with minimal sticking and zero mess. I didn't use ANY extra flour while shaping these! Just for fun I made some pretzel-shaped ones with the last dough scraps.

Tip: Roll out all the white dough first and then the colored dough so that the color doesn't transfer from your hands back to the white dough.



Butter Twist Cookies
Makes 20 | adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
food coloring
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp flour
Coarse sanding sugar, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until well combined and light and fluffy. Add vanilla and salt. Add food coloring at this point (if using). Continue mixing to combine. Add the eggs and mix again. Add the flour and continue mixing until it forms a ball. It should be the consistency of Play-Doh. Not sticky but not dry either. Set it aside and make your second batch of dough (if you are making a different color).

3. Shape the dough however you like - pretzels, twists, spirals. I rolled mine into thin strips then twisted the 2 color strips together.

4. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and sprinkle with coarse sanding sugar (optional but pretty). Bake 13-15 minutes or until just starting to color. Cool fully then store airtight at room temperature up to 3 days.