Can you believe that O-YUM-G is now 3 years old? Time sure flies when you're baking fun!

Since this blog was founded on St. Patrick's Day - I honor the anniversary with a St. Patrick's Day-related treat! The blog first started with shamrock cookies decorated with royal icing. The following year were easy-to-assemble pretzel shamrocks and last year I shared a recipe for mint chocolate chip cookies.

This year, I give you these marble glazed shamrock cookies! They are as tasty as they are pretty. And the glazing technique is easier than you would think. I also recently came across a fantastic sugar cookie recipe that has surpassed the tried-and-true sugar cut-out cookie recipe I've been using for the past 17 years. It's THAT good. Using a hint of almond extract and high-quality butter sends the flavor of this cookie through the charts. You don't even need to make them look pretty in order to enjoy them (I actually prefer them plain!). The best part of this recipe is that you don't need to chill the dough first in order to roll it out and cut out cookies. That means you can get homemade cookies in your mouth all the faster!

MARBLE GLAZED SHAMROCK COOKIES

Sugar Cookie (adapted from In Katrina's Kitchen)

1 cup salted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg, room temperature
2 tsp baking powder
3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350. In bowl of stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together about 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in extracts and egg and mix well. Slowly add in baking powder and flour until just incorporated. If mixture is a little dry, finish mixing by kneading the remaining dry ingredients into the dough with your hands.

Divide the dough into thirds and roll out onto a well-floured surface to about 1/4" thick. To ensure even thickness, place dough between two 1/4" dowels and run rolling pin over the dowels until all the dough is flattened and even. Cut out into desired shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.

Place cookies about 1" apart on an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes - just until set. Do not overbake - you don't want to see any browning. Let cool on the pan for 2-3 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before frosting/decorating.

MARBLE GLAZE (adapted from The Cafe Sucre Farine)

2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
4 Tbsp milk
Green food coloring (gel or liquid)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, almond extract and 3 Tbsp of milk. Add additional milk by the teaspoon, until it's a thick but drizzle-y consistency.

Pour about 1/4 of the glaze into a shallow bowl. Place 4-5 drops of food coloring onto the glaze and drag a toothpick through the glaze in a swirl formation to create the marble-effect. If using the gel kind of food coloring, dip end of a toothpick into the gel and then swirl through the glaze.

Take a cookie and place it top-side down onto the glaze. Gently press down so that the glaze touches the full surface of the cookies. Carefully lift the cookie straight up from the glaze and let any excess drizzle off. Flip cookie right-side up and place on a cooling rack to let the glaze set. When the glaze in the bowl has lost most of its marble-effect, add another 1/4 of the glaze and swirl in additional food coloring. Repeat with remaining cookies and glaze.

Let the glaze set for about 1-2 hours. They can then be stacked between sheets of wax paper and stored in an airtight container.