Are you looking for some tasty Saint Patrick’s Day Cookies? Our Citrus Celtic Knot Cookies keep little hands busy as they bend shortbread dough into shapes!

Have you ever come up with an idea so zany and then announced it to everyone and then facepalmed yourself for your stupidity? Yeah, that was me the other day when I got this hairbrained idea to make Celtic Knot Cookies with my kids. Apparently, I was bored or something. But once this idea was set in motion, there was no turning back.

Luckily, I have some pretty awesome baker friends and they helped me figure out how to make these Saint Patrick’s Day Cookies really happen. After an interesting discussion on facebook about what type of cookie dough I should use, I ended up going with shortbread even though it’s not really my favorite type of dough.

If we’re being completely honest, I actually find shortbread to be a little bit bland and boring. It’s the kind of cookie you would serve someone you didn’t really like at tea time. You know, so they would quickly eat it and go home? No? Maybe that’s just me.

Anyways, I needed to add some flavor to these bad boys, so that I would be excited to eat them. I mean they’re pretty as a picture, but they have to taste good too! Otherwise, I’d just be wasting a whole bunch of ingredients and a whole lot of time. So I decided to add some orange juice to the Citrus Glaze and the dough for the Irish Shortbread Cookies. Now, these Citrus Celtic Knot Cookies are really something special and make me think of spring!

P.S. The key to success with this recipe is to keep the dough completely chilled and to roll out the Celtic knots very quickly. I worked in batches with the kids and the shapes came out better than expected.

Citrus Celtic Knot Cookies

Citrus Celtic Knot Shortbread Ingredients:

2 cups of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon dried orange zest
4 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Celtic Knot Cookies Directions:

Step 1: Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Step 2: Add vanilla extract, orange juice, and zest. Mix well.

Step 3: Add flour, in one cup increments, and blend until just incorporated.

Step 4: Chill shortbread dough for at least one hour.

Step 5: Pinch off about 3-4 tablespoons of dough and roll it into a long snake. Mine was about 22” – yes, my friends, I measured it out for you!

Step 6: Lay your snake on the table and bend it downwards into a frown or upside down U. Then, bring the right side up. Next, bring the left side up. Pinch the ends of all three loops into points. You now have a basic Celtic trinity knot.

Step 7: Bake for 12 – 14 minutes at 350 degrees, or until bottoms are just starting to brown. Do not overbake!

Citrus Glaze Ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice

Directions:

Step 1: Sift powdered sugar into a large bowl. Add orange juice by the tablespoon and mix well. Apply glaze to cooled cookies and allow glaze to set.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day,

Denine