These festive Pots of Gold Cookie Cups are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day or any occasion that calls for a touch of magic. Imagine rich, chocolatey cookie cups filled with a sweet Rolo surprise, topped with a rainbow gummy candy and a sprinkle of gold!
They’re easy to make, fun to decorate, and absolutely delightful to devour. Get ready to impress your friends and family with these bite-sized treasures. Let’s dive into the recipe and create your own pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!
Jump to:
- Why You’ll Want to Make Pot of Gold Cookie Cups
- Ingredients – Here’s What You’ll Need to Make Pots of Gold Cookie Cups
- Steps to Make Cookie Cups
- Steps to Make the Frosting
- To Assemble the Pots of Gold Cookie Cups
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Other Great St. Patrick’s Day Recipes
- Recipe
Why You’ll Want to Make Pot of Gold Cookie Cups
- Festive and Fun: These are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day with their adorable pot design, rainbow candy, and gold sprinkles. They’re a fun way to celebrate the holiday or add a touch of whimsy to any occasion.
- Kid-Friendly: Both the decorating and the eating are fun for kids. They’ll love creating their own mini pots of gold.
- Adorable and Impressive: These little cookie cups are sure to be a hit with their cute presentation. The pop of color from the rainbow candy and the gold shimmer make them look impressive, but they’re surprisingly simple to create.
- Delicious: Let’s not forget the most important reason – they’re absolutely delicious! The combination of a rich, chewy cookie cup with a sweet and creamy filling is a winner.
Ingredients – Here’s What You’ll Need to Make Pots of Gold Cookie Cups
- All-Purpose Flour: The jack-of-all-trades in the baking world. Its moderate protein content allows the flour to develop just enough gluten to create structure in your cookie cups without making them tough.
- Dutch Process Cocoa Powder: The secret weapon to achieving the perfect depth of chocolate flavor and a gorgeous dark hue of the cookie cups.
- Granulated Sugar: Plays a role beyond flavor. It helps tenderize the cookie dough by inhibiting gluten development, resulting in those melt-in-your-mouth cookie cups.
- Baking Soda: A small amount can enhance the flavor of your cookie cups by deepening the chocolate flavor and add a subtle hint of richness.
- Extra-Large Egg: The extra liquid from this size egg makes the cookie dough slightly wetter, which results in cookies cups that are chewier and slightly softer.
- Crisco Shortening and Kerrygold Unsalted Irish Butter: The best of both worlds, using a combination of Crisco and butter allows you to get the rich flavor of butter with the superior structure-holding power of Crisco.
- Vanilla Extract: Acts as a flavor enhancer. It rounds out the other flavors in the recipe, like the chocolate from the cocoa powder and the sweetness of the sugar.
- Salt: Enhances the sweetness, bringing out all the rich, decadent flavors.
- Powdered Sugar: With its fine texture, creaming ability, and versatility, it’s the undisputed champion of bakery frosting.
- Gold Gel Food Coloring: This concentrated coloring offers a simple way to add a dazzling metallic sheen that will make your cookie cups shine brighter than a pot of leprechaun gold.
- Gold Sanding Sugar: Boasts a coarse texture with tiny crystals that sparkle like real gold, elevating the visual appeal of your cookies to a whole new level.
- Rolo Chocolate Candies: With their melty texture, delightful flavor, and convenient size, these are the perfect treasure to fill your Pot of Gold Cookie Cups.
- Air Heads Extreme Rainbow Bites: These chewy, brightly colored candies create a stunning visual representation of a rainbow resting upon your Pot of Gold Cookie Cups.
Steps to Make Cookie Cups
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Then, place the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and Dutch process cocoa powder in a medium size bowl.
- Using a whisk, combine the dry ingredients together. Set the bowl aside until ready to use.
- Place the Crisco shortening and unsalted Kerrygold Irish butter in a large bowl, and using an electric hand mixer, beat them together.
- Then add the granulated sugar.
- Beat the sugar with the Crisco and butter mixture for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Then add the egg and vanilla extract.
- Beat the mixture for about 2 minutes until light and creamy.
- Next, add the dry ingredients, about a cup at a time, to the wet ingredients.
- Beat until well for about a minute after each addition.
- Spray a 24-cavity mini muffin pan with non-stick spray. Then, using a small ice cream scoop, place about 2 tablespoons of dough into each of the wells.
- Using your fingers, press the dough down so that it fills the entire cavity.
- Bake in a 400°F oven for 10-12 minutes. When done, transfer the pan to a wire rack.
- Immediately press a Rolo chocolate candy into the center of each cup.
- Allow the cookie cups to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Then, remove them from the pan and transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
Steps to Make the Frosting
- Place the Crisco shortening, unsalted Kerrygold Irish butter, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bow. Using an electric hand mixer, beat the ingredients together until well incorporated and creamy.
- Then add the powdered sugar, about a cup at a time, beating well after each addition. At this point, the mixture will appear very dry and crumbly.
- Add the milk, about tablespoon at a time.
- Beat well after each addition of the milk until the frosting is smooth and creamy and has a good piping consistency. If the frosting is too thick, add a little more milk, and if it’s too runny, add a little more powdered sugar until you achieve the desired piping consistency.
- Add about 8 drops of the gold gel food coloring to the frosting.
- Beat the color into the frosting until it is evenly distributed and the frosting is a consistent gold color. If it’s not quite the desired gold color, you can add a little more color a drop at a time, beating well after each drop.
To Assemble the Pots of Gold Cookie Cups
- Place the frosting in a large piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Hold the bag straight directly above the cookie cup and squeeze the frosting as it fills the entire top of the cookie cup. Then, slowly pull the bag straight upwards away from the cookie cup, as you’re squeezing out the frosting. Pipe about a tablespoon of frosting on the top of each cookie cup.
- Place the gold sanding sugar into a small bowl and gently press each frosted cookie cup into the sanding sugar so that the entire surface of the frosting is covered. The frosting should smoosh down slightly when you do this.
- Then, insert an Air Heads Extreme Rainbow Bite into the top of each cookie cup. When finished, store the Pots of Gold Cookie Cups in an airtight container.
Pots of Gold Cookie Cups are the perfect sweet treat for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day or any occasion! Get ready to impress your friends and family with these edible treasures – they’re guaranteed to be a pot of gold at the end of your rainbow!
So fire up your oven, grab your sprinkles, and get ready to bake a batch of Pot of Gold Cookie Cups that will be the star of your next celebration!
Frequently Asked Questions
Classic options include Rolo chocolates for a caramel surprise, but you can also get creative with peanut butter cups, chocolate ganache, or even marshmallow fluff.
Dutch-processed cocoa powder is a good choice for Pots of Gold Cookie Cups, as it offers a darker color and richer chocolate flavor. However, you can use regular unsweetened cocoa powder as well.
They are generally quite easy to make, using common baking ingredients and techniques.
The options are endless! You can use colored sprinkles, candy melts piped into designs, or edible glitter.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Don’t Overmix:Â Overmixing your dough can lead to tough cookie cups. Mix until the ingredients are just combined, then stop!
- Use a cookie scoop: A cookie scoop ensures uniform cookie dough portions, leading to evenly sized and baked cookie cups.
- Don’t overbake: Slightly underbaked is better than overbaked for cookie cups. They will continue to firm up as they cool.
- Package them prettily: For gifting or potlucks, present your Pot of Gold Cookie Cups in festive cupcake liners or small cellophane bags tied with colorful ribbons.
Other Great St. Patrick’s Day Recipes
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Pots of Gold Cookie Cups
Equipment
- 24-cavity mini muffin pan
- one ounce ice cream scoop
- Electric hand mixer
- piping bag
- large round piping tip
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Cookie Cups
- â…“ c Crisco Shortening
- â…“ c Kerrygold Unsalted Irish Butter room temperature
- 1 c White Granulated Sugar
- 1 Extra Large Egg
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 â…“ c All-Purpose Flour
- â…“ c Dutch Process Cocoa Powder
- ½ tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- 24 Rolo Chocolate Candies unwrapped
Ingredients for Frosting
- 3 tbs Crisco Shortening
- 3 tbs Kerrygold Unsalted Irish Butter
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- â…› tsp Salt
- 2 c Powdered Sugar
- 3 tbs Milk
- 8 drops Gold Gel Food Coloring
For Decoration
- Gold Sanding Sugar
- 24 Air Heads Extreme Rainbow Bites
Instructions
To Make the Cookie Cups
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 24-cavity mini muffin pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Place the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and Dutch-process cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Then, using a whisk, combine the dry ingredients. Set the bowl aside until ready to use.
- Place the Crisco shortening and unsalted Kerrygold Irish butter in a large bowl, and using an electric hand mixer, beat them together.
- Add the granulated sugar and beat for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat for about 2 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until well combined.
- Using a small ice cream scoop, place about 2 tablespoons of dough into each of the wells of the prepared mini muffin pan. Then, using your fingers, press the dough down so that it fills the entire cavity.
- Bake in a 400°F oven for 10-12 minutes, then transfer the pan to a wire rack when the cookie cups are done.
- Immediately press a Rolo chocolate candy into the center of each cookie cup.
- Allow them to cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan, then remove them from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
Steps to Make the Frosting
- Place the Crisco shortening, unsalted Kerrygold Irish butter, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl, and using an electric hand mixer, beat them together until well incorporated and creamy.
- Then add the powdered sugar, about a cup at a time, beating well after each addition. At this point, the mixture will appear very dry and crumbly.
- Then add the milk, a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition until the frosting is smooth, creamy, and a good piping consistency. If the frosting is too thick add a little more milk, and if it's too runny add a little more powdered sugar.
- Add about 8 drops of the gold gel food coloring. Beat the color into the frosting until it is evenly distributed and the frosting is a consistent gold color. If it's not quite the desired gold color you can add a little more color a drop at a time, beating well after each drop.
To Assemble the Pots of Gold Cookie Cups
- Place the frosting in a large piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Hold the bag straight directly above the cookie cup and squeeze the frosting as it fills the entire top of the cookie cup. Then, slowly pull the bag straight upwards away from the cookie cup, as you're squeezing out the frosting. Pipe about a tablespoon of frosting on the top of each cookie cup.
- Place the gold sanding sugar into a small bowl and gently press each frosted cookie cup into the sanding sugar so that the entire surface of the frosting is covered and the frosting is smooshed down slightly.
- Then, insert an Air Heads Extreme Rainbow Bite into the top of each cookie cup.
- Store in an airtight container.
- Yield 24 Pots of Gold Cookie Cups
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