Irish Flag Cookies

Show your Irish spirit with these fun cookies, plus the kids will get a geography lesson to boot.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1½ cups confectioners sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- 2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. cream of tartar
- Icing ingredients
Icing
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp. water 2 drops orange food coloring
- 2 drops green food coloring
Directions
- In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar for four
to five minutes or until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl
halfway through.
- Beat in egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix well.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt
and cream of tartar. Blend into the butter mixture.
- Divide dough into thirds and shape into balls. Wrap in plastic
and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Working with one-third of the dough at a time, roll out dough
to 1/4-inch thick on a board dusted with confectioners sugar. Cut
into 1½ x 2½-inch rectangles. A cookie cutter really works best,
but cutting freehand with a chef's knife works in a pinch.
- Place rectangles on parchment-covered cookie sheet, two inches
apart. Refrigerate cookie sheet for 15 minutes.
- Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until lightly browned. Cool
completely on wire rack.
Icing:
- In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup sugar, pinch of salt,
1/2 tsp. vanilla, 2 tsp. water and orange food coloring.
- Add additional water as needed to make a thin, brushable
consistency.
- In another small bowl, stir together the remaining icing
ingredients.
- Holding a cookie in one hand, brush a stripe of orange icing
with a pastry brush on the right one-third of each cookie. Continue
icing remaining cookies. When orange icing sets, begin decorating
with the green icing. Once icing is set, store cookies in an
airtight container.
