I’m putting a festive spin on frosted sugar cookies for St. Patrick’s Day using everyone’s favorite St. Patrick’s Day-themed cereal: Lucky Charms!
I’ve always wanted to make a festive dessert recipe using Lucky Charms. But I’ve missed the mark every single year and not realized it was St. Patrick’s Day until it was way too late. But not this year! I’m ahead of the game for once! And these magical Frosted Lucky Charms Sugar Cookies are here and ready to be baked and enjoyed by you and all the other leprechauns.
I knew I wanted to use Lucky Charms as the topping for these cookies. All the different shapes and colors of the cereal pieces and marshmallows are just so fun and festive. These cookies are dressed to party! But I also wanted the cookies themselves to have some Lucky Charms flavor. So I processed some of the cereal pieces (cereal pieces only here, no marshmallows) and added that to the cookie dough along with the other dry ingredients. Essentially, we’re treating the processed cereal pieces like flour. So make sure you process it until it’s very finely ground. And measure it after processing, to ensure the correct amount goes into the cookie dough.
These Frosted Lucky Charms Sugar Cookies have a great soft, chewy texture. And they stay that way for 4-5 days. They are also very sweet. Which I feel silly having to mention, because it’s a cookie recipe. So obviously, they are going to be sweet. But I know someone will say “these are too sweet!”. So anyway…if that’s you, you’ve been warned.
If you make my Frosted Lucky Charms Sugar Cookies for St. Patrick’s Day this year, take a picture and let me know! I’d love to see how they came out!
Cheers,
Liz
Frosted Lucky Charms Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookie Dough:
- About 1 cup Lucky Charms cereal pieces (no marshmallows)
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
- 1 cup (16 tablespoons) salted butter, softened at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the Frosting and Topping:
- 3/4 cups (12 tablespoons) salted butter, softened at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1-3 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
- About 2 cups Lucky Charms (cereal + marshmallows)
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In your food processor fitted with the blade attachment, process the cereal pieces until they are very finely ground. It should almost resemble flour. Measure out 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon and transfer to clean bowl. Discard any leftovers.
- To the bowl with the cereal “flour”, add the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar. Mix to combine. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 1 3/4 cups of the sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Add the dry ingredients all at once and beat on low speed until just combined, stopping to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the remaining sugar to a bowl. Scoop out 2 tablespoon sized-portions of the cookie dough and roll into balls. Roll each cookie dough ball in sugar to coat. Then place them on one of your prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2-inches between each cookie dough ball.
- Bake one sheet at a time in your pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through the cooking time. The cookies will be very lightly golden brown and the edges should look set.
- Remove the baking sheet from your oven let the cookies rest on their baking sheet for 10 minutes. Then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- While the cookies cool, make the frosting. In your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition. Stop to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Then add the vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of the milk, beating until combined. If the frosting seems too thick, you can add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of milk.
- Once the cookies have completed cooled, spoon about 1 tablespoon of frosting onto the center of each cookie. Spread the frosting out to the edges in a thin, even layer. I find an off-set spatula works best. Top each cookie with Lucky Charms.
- The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days. The Lucky Charms will change in texture over time. If you prefer, you can decorate only a few at a time to help preserve the crunchiness of the cereal.
Notes
Recipe for the sugar cookies adapted from Sarah Kieffer’s cookbook, 100 Cookies: The Baking Book for Every Kitchen.
