Leprechaun Bites are my Favorite St Patrick’s Day Cookie

How do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

Since there are loads of kids in my world, St. Patrick’s day tends to involve projects, coloring and green sprinkles. When I was a kid, we cut out shamrocks, and put funny looking buckles on the shoes and hats of odd looking little men (weren’t those the same buckles that we glued on the Pilgrim’s shoes and hats? and WAIT A SECOND… George Washington needed those buckles glued on his shoes too …. )

In my Kid’s elementary school, the Kindergarten teachers now assign the building of a “Leprechaun Trap”. Lots of thought and effort goes in to these traps. Sometimes the kids even get to be involved…. (dads…. gotta love ’em).
To me, the best way to catch a Leprechaun? Not sticky paper or trapdoors, not pretend gold, and NO WAY should you use a mouse trap (ouch)… You lure a Leprechaun with Leprechaun Bites. (Then when they are eating, you grab them and ask nicely for the gold.)

These sweet little cookies are less than a bite size, so they are perfectly sized for Leprechauns (and little kids). Simple ingredients, simple instructions, you can easily make them with your kids… or in your classroom…. and have them ready to eat in under an hour.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Leprechaun Bites

Tasty little Shortbread Morsels

Serves: Loads of little cookies

• Prep Time: 10 to 15 min
• Total Time: 1 hour until cool enough to eat.

Catch yourself a Leprechaun, or treat yourself to a sweet little treat.

Flour, Sugar, Butter, and some Green Sprinkles are all you need to make these cookies. I cut them with a pizza cutter… makes it easy and fast to create the small squares… and a pizza cutter is safe for my daughter to use, and she does love to help. Generally we cut them about 1 cm square (but I’m not using a ruler… so, some might be a little oddly shaped… those can be eaten by the baker).

These delicious Shortbread cookies are studded with green sprinkles to celebrate St Patrick’s day…or any day you want a mini-cookie. (BTW…if you want to make these for Christmas Elves…use different colored sprinkles).

Step-by-step photos are below

Ingredients

• 1 cup Butter (soft)
• 2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 cup Unbleached Flour
• 1/3 cup Green Sprinkles

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare baking sheet by covering it with a sheet of Parchment Paper.

Cream the Butter and Sugar together in a mixer…let it mix 4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Add the flour, just a bit at a time, until completely blended.
Add the sprinkles…beat until they are totally mixed in.

Sprinkle a bit of flour on the counter (or work surface). Turn the dough out onto the flour, and knead it a few times until it’s smooth. (We’re not making bread here…just smoothing things out).

Move the dough onto the parchment covered cookie sheet.
Use a rolling pin to roll the dough flat. You want it to end up about 3/4 cm thick. Now… this isn’t brain surgery, so don’t go hauling out a ruler… just make sure it’s not thin. You shouldn’t need to put muscle into this… the dough is soft…if you press too hard, the dough will become one with the parchment paper, and you will have a mess. It will end up around 8 inches wide by 12 inches long. More or less (I said, put the ruler away).

Get out your pizza cutter (yes, you can use a knife). Cut strips 1 cm apart… then go crosswise… 1 cm apart (we’ve talked about the ruler repeatedly… leave it). You don’t have to spread the strips.

Bake in the 325 oven for 30 minutes. (now is a good time to plan out what you’ll do with all the gold!!)

Bing

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes… then get out the pizza cutter (or knife) and cut along the lines you cut before. Now you can spread them apart, and let them cool completely.

Eat

&

Wilton Dark Green Sugars SpinklesWilton Sprinkles 3.25oz Colored Sugar Light Green

&

Step By Step Instructions with Photos

Cream the Butter and Sugar

4 minutes in the Mixer should do it

Add the Flour… (slowly)… beat to Combined

Then Add the Sprinkles

Turn Out Dough onto a LIGHTLY Floured Surface

Knead a few times

Got Your Cookie Sheet Covered with Parchment Paper?

Roll Out the Dough On the Parchment Paper

Don’t press too hard

You Want it To Look Like This

A bit less than 1/2 inch Thick

Use a Pizza Cutter or a Knife

Cut Strips about a Centimeter (1/2 inch) wide

Now Cut Strips 1/2 inch Apart going the other way

Should have little quasi-squares…

Bake 30 minutes

Edges will be Lightly Browned

Re-Cut Along the Scored Line

Get Your Kids to Help!

Break The Cookies Apart

Eat

Wee Small Leprechaun Bites!

yummm