Rainbow Cookies for St. Patrick’s Day are just, well, magical! These spectacular cookies don’t just look pretty, they taste it even better than they look. They’re actually a scrumptious lemon shortbread that’s rich and buttery. Even if they weren’t all jazzed out for St. Patrick’s Day, these are a go-to cookie recipe of mine because the bright lemon flavor really shines through. It’s funny, this is one of those cookies that kids gravitate towards because of the cool colors, but adults are always pleasantly surprised that they taste great! My motto is to never sacrifice flavor for design in food.
Never!
Now before we get to the Rainbow Cookie recipe, I feel like I have to warn you. The quantities on this recipe are enormous! you’ll get 10 dozen (small) cookies by using 4 sticks of butter. Now that is just crazy! There is a reason for this and it has to do with the design and the dimensions of the loaf pan. Because we need to make six layers, we need a lot of dough. Each color layer is actually quite thin and can’t be reduced and still form a rainbow.
Here’s the good news: this dough freezes beautifully, so you can slice and bake half of it now and freeze the other half for another time. You can also try to cut it in half and use a mini loaf pan. I have never had a problem sharing these with neighbors and friends, so you can always go that route too. Like I said before, Rainbow Cookies for St. Patrick’s Day are absolutely delicious and they are always gobbled up quickly. I love to host a St. Patrick’s Day party and these are a huge hit there.
- 4 sticks butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- zest of 2 lemons
- ¼ tsp salt
- 6 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- gel food coloring in rainbow colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)
- ¾ cup sugar (for dusting)
- Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer.
- Add lemon juice, zest, salt and eggs. Beat until well-mixed.
- Gradually add flour and baking soda and combine until completely.
- Divide dough into 6 even sections and color them each using gel food coloring. Spread each layer in rainbow order onto a parchment-lined loaf pan. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Lift the dough block out of the loaf pan carefully, using the parchment overhangs. Using a very sharp knife, slice the dough like you would a loaf of bread (1/4 inch slices). Then cut each slice into 6 rainbow sticks. Place them one inch apart on parchment-lined cookie pans. Chill cookies while you slice the rest. If dough starts to get soft, put it back in the refrigerator to chill.
- Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes, until just firm but not too brown.
- Allow cookies to cool on pan for just one minute. Then gently roll them in the remaining sugar for the sparkle effect. Cool completely on wire racks.
If your little leprechauns love these rainbow cookies, you might want to do these easy St. Patrick’s Day Crafts for Toddlers with them. The rainbow craft is particularly fun!
Just a standard loaf pan, 8×4, I believe.
Wrap the dough with plastic wrap in the loaf pan. Once it it a frozen block, gentle set it free by running a knife along the edges of the pan. Then you can wrap the dough tightly with plastic wrap and freeze it for a few weeks or up to a month.
I’m so excited to try these! Would you mind sharing some tips on how you freeze the dough, and then what you do to bake after they’ve been frozen? ( Thaw or straight to the oven? Cooking time difference?) Thank you:)
What size loaf pan are you using?
Absolutely, Meg!
They look wonderful! At first I thought they were gummies because
Oh, enjoy them, Amber!
Perfect, Jessica! They’ll get to eat their lesson.
Those cookies look super delicious and fun to make! I am definitely going to give these cookies a try. My boys will have fun helping me and I can teach them about the colors as well!
These are so fun for St. Patrick’s Day!! Love them!
Thanks, Sally!. Lemon is my favorite flavor and I always want delicious cookies to eat.
Ha ha! Lindsey, it’s a huge recipe. You can share!
Thanks, JeeYoung!
How cute and fun! The kids will love it
Those are SO CUTE!! What a fun idea!
These look so yummy! SO cute and festive. Pinned for later!
Absolutely adorable and festive! I’d eat the whole batch! 🙂
I must tell you how much I love that you made these with lemon cookie dough! Absolutely fabulous. They look amazing and I’m sure taste the same.
These look amazing!! Great work!
These are the cutest! I’ll have to make these!
Oh my gosh, they came out so cute! Can’t even believe St. Payyt’s is coming up all ready!
These look so yummy!!! I love anything that can be made in rainbow! XO
These are really adorable! My daughter would love them!
These are so fun and festive! I absolutely love this idea!
These are absolutely beautiful! How festive for St. Patrick’s Day!
They’re like sugar cookies! Too pretty to eat 🙂
Love the los Pam idea! I was a little intimidated at first but I totally think I could handle this! 🌈
These are super cool! Mama, you’re a genius!!!
I seriously thought these cookies were those gummy rainbow strips at first. They are absolutely spectacular! I want to make these for my son!
Those cookies are soo cute!!
These are so colorful and perfect for St. Patrick’s Day!
How inventive. These are amazing
This is so awesome and these look so good. I really need to try these out. 🙂 Thanks for sharing. My daughter turns 18 on St. Patrick’s Day so this will be the perfect treat.
These look so fun! My boys will LOVE these!! Thanks for sharing, they look yummy!
These are such a great idea, and they look delicious. Definitely want to try making these cookies!
So pretty and so much fun.I will have to try this recipe.
So fun! And I love your motto that you should never sacrifice flavor for design. 🙂 It is FOOD, first and foremost, right?
These look so yummy!! I might be adventurous enough to try it but I’m terrible at cookie baking so we’ll see! Thanks for sharing your method!!
These look so pretty! I have been looking for some fun St. Patrick’s Day baking to do with my daughter, and she would love these!
Well! This just looks so stinking fun!! My kiddos would love this!!
These are so fun!!! My daughter would love to make them.
Oh my gosh these look like they would be so much fun to make!
These look so awesome! Definitely going to make them with my kids!
These are the prettiest cookies I have ever seen, it´s art!
Oh my! That looks so good! I bet my kids will love this!
These cookies are beautiful! I can’t wait to try this one, my kids will love it. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Rebecca. I’ll have to tag you when I try it out. 🙂