Come Party With Me: St. Patrick's Day — Desserts

March 10, 2010

On Saturday a big group of friends and I are going to the St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown San Francisco. This is our fourth year in a row, and it should be a blast. Before the parade, we're meeting at an Irish pub in lower Haight. I'm making some snacks and one sweet treat.

Since it has to be portable and something I can put together the night before, I've decided on these festive and cute clover cookies. The cookies that aren't eaten at the bar can be packed in my purse and reserved for the beer garden later. To look at the recipe I'll be using, read more.

From Martha Stewart

Clover Cookies

Ingredients

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Green sanding sugar

Directions

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl; set aside. Combine butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment; cream on high speed until fluffy. Beat in eggs.
Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two additions, mixing until well combined. Mix in vanilla. Divide dough in half, and cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out 1 piece of dough on a lightly floured work surface 1/8 inch thick. With a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out 25 rounds. Working with 1 round at a time, place clover stencil on top; sprinkle surface with sanding sugar.
Arrange rounds on parchment- or nonstick baking mat-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes, or until ready to bake. Repeat process with remaining dough.
Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges just start to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Makes 50.