Guinness chocolate shamrock cookie sandwiches – celebrate St. Patrick’s day with these delicious and festive cookies. You’ll love how the chocolate cookie and mild mint frosting come together in this deeply flavorful and beautiful cookie.
So celebrate with this deliciousness on St. Patrick’s day or any time the mood strikes. They’re good all year round!
Jump to Recipe
Jump to:
While there’s this whole history on why we celebrate St. Patrick’s day the way we do, you can read more about that here. For most who celebrate the March holiday, it’s a time to celebrate Irish culture with food and drink.
Guinness fits perfectly into that tradition as it is Irelands most successful brewing company (it’s been around since 1759). And the chocolate and coffee notes – of the dark stout black beer – complement chocolate desserts with added richness.
So, even beyond celebrating St. Patrick’s day – hopefully with this recipe 🙂 – you may find a reason to add Guinness to your other decadent desserts.
Table of Contents
What Do Guinness Cookies Taste Like
If you’ve never tried a Guinness cookie before, you might be wondering if you would be able to taste the beer in them. Nope! These cookies taste nothing like beer.
Instead, what the Guinness actually does is intensify the chocolate flavor. It also adds a slightly malty flavor. Bottom line, my friend, they taste outstanding!
Why Refrigerate Cookie Dough
As you will see in the image below, there is a significant difference between how the cookies come out when the cookie dough is cold versus room temperature.
The fat (butter) solidifies when you chill the cookie dough. And the longer the fat stays solid, the less the cookies will spread.
Why Use Dutch Cocoa
In our tests, baked goods made with Dutch-process cocoa tasted better. In addition, because of the alkalizing process, Dutch cocoa is less bitter than its natural cocoa counterparts.
What If I Can’t Find Dutch Cocoa
Don’t fret if you can’t find Dutch cocoa or prefer to use natural cocoa. In place of the baking powder, use half that amount in baking soda.
For example, our recipe calls for a teaspoon of baking powder. If you need to use natural cocoa powder, swap the teaspoon of baking powder for a half teaspoon of baking soda.
Why Use Gel Food Coloring
With a corn syrup or glycerin base, gel food coloring is a lot thicker than the regular food coloring that you can find at the grocery store. But not only are gel food colorings thicker, they’re also more concentrated.
So the reason you want to use gel food coloring is because you can use less of it to get your desired color. And two, as it is thicker, it won’t thin out your frosting.
Ingredients
Below are all the ingredients you will need to make our Guinness chocolate shamrock cookie sandwiches. The first image shows the ingredients for the cookie, excluding the frosting.
- Flour
- Dutch Cocoa Powder
- Granulated Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Butter
- Guinness Beer
- Egg yolks
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt
- Baking Powder
The following image shows the ingredients for the shamrock frosting.
- Powdered Sugar
- Butter
- Vegetable Shortening
- Peppermint Extract
- Food Coloring
- Milk
See the recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Guinness Chocolate Shamrock Cookie Sandwiches
First, gather all of your ingredients. Then, allow the eggs and butter to come to room temperature.
Next, you will want to make the Guinness syrup by adding the beer and the brown sugar to a saucepan.
Cook the mixture on medium-high for about 25 minutes. At this point, it should be a syrup.
The next step is to cream the butter and sugars.
Then add the rest of the wet ingredients: egg yolks, Guinness syrup, vanilla extract.
Next, you want to go ahead and sift the dry ingredients together.
And finally, combine all of the ingredients and set the cookie in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
Next, arrange the cookie dough in a pan lined with parchment paper (or silicone baking mat), placing them about two inches apart.
For the frosting, you first want to cream butter and vegetable shortening.
Then add the peppermint extract, milk, salt, and powdered sugar.
To frost your cookies, put some frosting in a piping bag, and starting at the edge of the cookie, pipe the frosting while moving toward the center creating a spiral as seen in the image below.
Hint: For firm, soft, and chewy cookies, make sure to refrigerate the cookie dough for at least two hours to overnight. Cooling the dough is a critical step.
Storage
These cookies will last for up to three days in a food storage container.
Guinness Chocolate Shamrock Cookie Sandwich Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Hand Mixer
Ingredients
Guinness Mixture
- 1 11.2 oz Guinness
- 1/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar
Cookie Dough
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Cup Dutch Cocoa Powder
- 2 Tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 2 Cup Unsalted Butter 2 Sticks / Room temperature
- 1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Egg Yolks Room temperature
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Shamrock Frosting
- 4 Oz Unsalted Butter 1 Stick / Room temperature
- 4 Oz Vegetable Shortening
- 1 Tsp Peppermint Extract
- 1/8 Tsp Green Gel Food Coloring Color as desired
- 1 Pd Powdered Sugar About 4 cups
- 2 Tsp Milk Room temperature
- Pinch of Salt
Instructions
Guinness Mixture
- In a medium saucepan, add the Guinness and brown sugar. Cook on medium-high heat for 20-25 minutes or until mixture measures 1/3 cup. Set aside to cool.
Cookie Dough
- In a small bowl sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a large bowl cream the butter and both sugars. Add the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and Guinness mixture. Mix until completely combined.
- Mix half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Start the hand mixer on low or flour will be all over your kitchen. Make sure to scrape the sides down before adding the rest of the flour mixture.
- Add the 2nd half of the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours to overnight.
Shamrock Frosting
- In a large bowl cream the butter and vegetable shortening. Add the peppermint extract, salt, milk, and powdered sugar. Mix until completely incorporated.
- Add the food coloring and mix until completely mixed in. Make sure to scrape the bowl to ensure the color is completed incorporated.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Scoop 1 tablespoon of the cookie dough into the palm of your hand and form it into a ball. Place it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes while still on the cookie sheet then transfer to a wired rack to completely cool.
- Add the frosting into a piping bag with a round tip. Take 1 cooled cookie and pipe the frosting all around the edges moving into the center of the cookie. Take another cookie and place it on top. Squeeze down slightly to ensure the cookie sticks together. Continue this step until all sandwiches are made. Enjoy!
Notes
- The time can vary when cooking down the Guinness mixture. It depends on the size of the pan you use and how strong your burner is.
- I recommend making the Guinness mixture 1 day in advance and refrigerate. The mixture has a malty flavor which is delicious.
- If you don’t chill the dough then your cookies will spread and you won’t get a soft chewy cookie. You will get a thin crispy cookie.
- You want to use gel food coloring because it won’t change the consistency of the frosting. Start by adding a little coloring and add more to create the desired color. Have fun with this step.
- If you only have liquid then add the coloring and if needed add a little more powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency.
- The cookies need to be completely cooled before adding the frosting otherwise the frosting will start to melt.
- Store the cookie sandwiches in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
- Cookie dough and frosting can be made 1 day in advance and refridgerate.
Nutrition
Leave a Reply