“Leprechaun Loafer” Chocolate-Dipped Butterscotch Cookies

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner and to celebrate, the little guy and I are making some Leprechaun Loafer Cookies for his classmates. This recipe is for a butterscotch cookie dipped in dark chocolate and decorated to look like a little leprechaun left his golden, buttery shoe behind while looking for places to hide his treasure. Enjoy!

“Leprechaun Loafer” Chocolate-Dipped Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 oz. dark chocolate chips
frosting (for decorating)

• Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) and set aside.
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat until the butter starts to brown. You’ll be able to tell it’s browning when the butter starts to smell warm and nutty, and small brown particles form at the bottom of the saucepan. When the particles appear, take the butter off quickly so it won’t burn.
• Mix the butter with the brown sugar thoroughly, then set aside to cool. It’s okay if the sugar/butter mix is warm, but if it’s too hot it will cook the egg.
• Once the sugar/butter mixed has cooled, add the egg and beat until the mixture resembles mayonnaise.
•  Add the vanilla.
• Add the flour mixture a little at a time and mix until combined.
• Roll dough into a log and wrap in waxed paper. Let chill in freezer for approximately 2 hours or in the refrigerator overnight.
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• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• Shape the cookie roll until it’s slightly oval, like a shoe, and cut into cookies about 1/4 inch thick. Take 1/3 of the cookies and cut them in half, placing them on top of the full cookies to give the “shoes” their shape.
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• Place shoe cookies on parchment paper on a baking sheet and bake for approximately 9 – 11 minutes. When just golden and lightly brown around the edges, they’re done!

Chocolate Dipping

Edward loved these cookies plain, but to make them look like leprechaun shoes, we needed a good coating of dark chocolate.

1. To do this, melt your 6 oz. of dark chocolate chips in a double boiler or, like I do, in a small bowl perched on top of a saucepan filled with water and simmering on the stove.
2. Once the chocolate is melted, dip each shoe in the chocolate and brush on with a pastry brush. I used a skewer stuck through the thickest part of each cookie to manipulate it in the chocolate.
3. Remove the coated cookie and place on a sheet of parchment or waxed paper.
4. Chill until set – about 1/2 hour.
5. Decorate with the frosting and a pastry bag, adding a buckle and the “opening” on the top of the shoe. If you don’t have a pastry bag, just put the frosting in a zip-loc and snip off a bottom corner edge; it works just as well!

NOTE: for my frosting, I used the leftovers from my salted caramel butter cupcakes and lightly colored the frosting with turmeric. But you can use a simple cream cheese frosting from the grocery store. You don’t need much; just enough to add the details.