These soft mint Shamrock Shake Sugar Cookie Bars are a fun and easy treat. White frosting, green sugar, and a cherry make them look like the popular shake.
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Ok, so I realized that I just shared a sugar cookie bar with you just a few days ago. But this weekend I was scrolling through Facebook, and I saw a few different posts for shamrock shakes.
Want to know something? I don’t think I have ever had one before. Can you believe that? Please tell me I am not the only one. I’ve been too busy making and drinking a thin mint latte instead.
Until this point, I have not had a desire for one of those shakes. And in 8 years of blogging I have never made any sort of shamrock dessert. I’m definitely a fly by the seat of my pants kind of blogger. Usually the desserts and dinners that happen here are made on a whim. I get crazy ideas for food that I can’t rest until I make. This was one of those moments!
Right away I had this overwhelming urge to make a green mint dessert. But since shakes have been done and done again, I knew it had to be something totally different. I thought about tweaking these mint cheesecake brownies with a green cheesecake layer and a white fluffy topping, but I really wanted something easier.
My mind went right away to these vanilla unicorn sugar cookie bars that I just made. Why couldn’t I make those bars bright green and give them some mint flavor? Plus, I had a dinner that I was supposed to bring dessert for, and cookie bars are so easy to make.
Guess what I did that afternoon? Yup, I made two batches of green cookie bars and fluffy white frosting. Then I topped them with green sugar and a cherry with a stem on it to mimic those shakes!
Here are some easy tips, so that you can make your own shamrock shake sugar cookie bars!
- Make sure you set out the butter ahead of time. Soft butter is much easier to work into cookie dough.
- Use mint extract in this recipe. Peppermint is a Christmas flavor, so using that will yield a different taste. Mixing vanilla and mint extract will keep it from tasting like toothpaste!
- Add your flour into the dough in batches. The dough will be very stiff, yet crumbly.
- If you use a hand mixer to make the cookie bars, you will need to work the dough longer. I do recommend using a stand mixer with a paddle blade.
- Add your green food coloring sparingly because a little bit does go a long way. Slowly add a little at a time until you get to the color you want.
- Let the cookie bars cool completely before spreading on the frosting.
- Dry the cherries off with paper towels before putting them on the bars. If the cherries are wet, they will melt the green sugar and you will have a green streaky mess.
If you loved these mint bars, here are some more mint treats that I think you will like. This Mint Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball is an easy no bake treat that goes well with cookies. And the thick layer of frosting on these Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies looks so good. If you have never had one of those store bought shakes, you are in luck. Here is a Copycat Shamrock Shake that looks so good!!!
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These soft mint Shamrock Shake Sugar Cookie Bars are a fun and easy treat. White frosting, green sugar, and a cherry make them look like the popular shake.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- green gel color
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 6 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- green sanding sugar
- 1 - 10 ounce jar maraschino cherries with stems
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with foil and spray it with nonstick baking spray.
- Beat the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the egg and extracts and beat again.
- Add the baking powder, salt, and half the flour and mix until a soft dough forms. Add the rest of the flour and beat until mixed in. If you are using a hand mixer, you may need to use the back of a spoon or your hands to knead the dough until stiff.
- Use a butter knife to add the green gel color to the desired shade. Again if using a hand mixer, it will take time to mix the color in. Using a spoon or stand mixer does work better.
- Press the dough firmly and evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 14 minutes. Remove and cool completely.
- Beat the butter, extracts, and salt until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and heavy cream alternately until everything is mixed in. Beat on high for 1-2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Spread the frosting on top of the cooled cookie bars. Lift the foil out of the pan and cut the bars into 24 squares. Top with green sanding sugar and a cherry that has been patted dry.
Bryn says
Is it mint or peppermint flavoring? Thanks!
Bryn says
On shugary sweets today she said mint would be like toothpaste so I just want to make sure!
Jocelyn says
I used MINT extract in these bars, and everyone that ate them at the dinner I took them to said they were the perfect taste. The mix of vanilla and mint extract balances out so they do NOT taste like toothpaste at all!
Bryn says
Thank you so much! I’ve always used mint in my recipes and was worried after I read that that maybe I think it tastes good but everyone else thinks it tastes like toothpaste! I’ll be making these next week for sure. My family loves cookie bars and loves mint so I think they will be very very happy
Jocelyn says
I think it is definitely a preference thing. I prefer peppermint at Christmas, and mint at this time of year. I had very good feedback from everyone at the party yesterday, so I think the combo works. I’m excited to hear what your family thinks, so keep me posted!
cakespy says
OMG my inner leprechaun is shouting with sweet joy!
Jennifer says
My children like cookies very much and I promised that I will make this shake sugar cookie bars for them at this weekend. Thanks for sharing!