Shamrock Peanut Butter Cookies

Saint Patrick's day is around the corner and to celebrate I made some peanut butter cookies in the shape of shamrocks. I was a little worried to make the cookies with peanut butter dough because I didn't know if the cookies would hold the shamrock shape, like gingerbread and sugar cookie dough does so well. But, I am happy to report that these held their cookie cutter shape very well and I think what helped is the amount of time I chilled the dough in the fridge and how thin I rolled out the dough. I chilled my dough for about an hour, which is necessary to firm the dough, because peanut butter dough is very soft and sticky to work with. These came out so soft and chewy and they were exactly what I was craving. 

Ingredients - Makes about 3 dozen (depending on the size of your cookie cutters)

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla
• 1 egg (I substituted with egg whites)
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Mix butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla. Mix on low speed until thoroughly mixed.

Add the egg and beat on medium speed until mixture is creamy and fluffy.

Add the baking powder and add the flour in little by little.

Wrap dough in clear wrap and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes - 45 minutes. If you leave it in too long, you may need to let the dough sit at room temperature for 10–20 minutes until it is pliable, or roll it between parchment paper. 

If the dough too cold and brittle to roll immediately, it could crack. To fix this, let the dough sit at room temperature for a bit. It take a bit of time to get comfortable with being able to tell the sweet spot between chilled and also pliable enough to start rolling it out. You don't want it too soft and it can't be rock hard either.

Once dough is chilled, but also pliable (it may need to sit out for 10-20 minutes after the fridge) and has firmed up a bit, roll out dough on floured counter top and press down with cookie cutters. If the dough is cracking, it might need to sit out at room temperature a bit more.

I got this awesome shamrock cookie cutter from my sister during Christmas.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

I added a few green sprinkles on some of them before they went into the oven and the rest I left plain to either decorate with icing later or just left them blank to eat as is.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until bottoms are slightly golden.

Once out of the oven, place cookies on wire racks to cool completely.

I've been struggling with allergies, or a cold, off and on for weeks, and I think this is exactly what the doctor ordered, a bit crisp on the outside and soft in the inside.

I  keep the cookies in a tupperware to keep them fresh and soft. These would be great to give as a little gift, I would recommend tying a very thin green bow around the little clover stem.

Thanks for stopping by my little corner in the world.