OK, I’ve already pushed the limits on what is acceptable in terms of green food for the month, what with the Greens, Eggs, and Ham and the Green (Rainbow Chard) Cake. But now I’ve totally gone off the rails with this Green Frosting (click for recipe), made with spinach. Yes, I’ve officially become that mom.
But before you scoff, know that this is partially an effort to raise awareness about food coloring alternatives. Yes, we could have just made a regular frosting and put in a few drops of food coloring. Or, as my four-year-old pointed out, we could have just headed over to Target and bought some cookies with green frosting on them. But this way we had a cool project to do together, along with some built-in suspense (Will it taste good or gross?), and the end result was healthier than any of the alternatives.
We started with a basic sugar cookie recipe and cut them with a shamrock cookie cutter. I’d normally make a thinner icing, but I was concerned about the texture and look with the spinach pieces, so I decided to go with a richer, butter-based frosting. After the cookies were cooled, we piped on the frosting just around the edges of each cookie.
Can you taste the spinach? No. Seriously – no. Our kids knew there was spinach in there, but when it was time for cookie-eating, they demolished them without hesitation. We’re not likely to go through the effort of making spinach frosting at other times of the year, but for St. Patrick’s Day, we are proud to be eating (and wearing) all-natural green.
Like this idea and looking for more? Check out these ideas on celebrating St. Patrick’s Day without food coloring.
Jeanne, once again you have triumphed using greens! Brilliant solution!
–Your friendly farmers at Cut `n Clean Greens
Thanks, Cut n Clean! You’ve got me on a roll here!