Name: St. Patrick's Day Crinkle Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 9 min
Total time: 19 min
Ingredients: 1 box white cake mix (15.25 ounces); 1 box instant pistachio pudding mix (3.4 ounces); 2 large eggs; ½ cup vegetable oil; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

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Made with a white cake mix and pistachio pudding mix, these St. Patrick’s Day crinkle cookies are as delicious as they are cute and festive!

White platter filled with st. patrick's day crinkle cookies.

WHAT ARE CRINKLE COOKIES?
HOW TO MAKE ST. PATRICK’S CRINKLE COOKIES
STORAGE SUGGESTIONS
St. Patrick’s Day Crinkle Cookies Recipe

I don’t really get too much into St. Patrick’s Day except for where the food is concerned.

When it comes to the food, I will happily bake up a loaf of Irish soda bread or a Baileys cheesecake. And I know plenty of people who will whip up an Irish lamb stew, although my family prefers Guinness stew.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to take part in those, whether you’re Irish or not?

But when you have kids, you get asked to make all kinds of seasonal stuff. So it’s always good to have some “green treats” ready to go.

These St. Patrick’s Day crinkle cookies are easy to make and are super delicious, thanks to one of my favorite baking ingredients.

Several stacked green crinkle cookies next to a glass of milk. One of the cookies is leaning against the stack.

WHAT ARE CRINKLE COOKIES?

I adore crinkle cookies. The fun flavors, the crinkles all over the outside, and most of all – how easy they are to make.

I love making easy chocolate crinkle cookies and red velvet crinkle cookies with Elle, and now we’ve added another holiday into the mix with these green St. Patrick’s Day crinkle cookies.

Bite taken from a st. patrick's day crinkle cookie. The cookie is balanced on the edge of a glass of milk.

If you’ve never had crinkle cookies, they are soft and chewy cookies that have cracks and “crinkles” on the outside. They’re usually rolled in powdered sugar before baking which helps the “crinkles” show up even more.

There are many from-scratch recipes for crinkle cookies out there, but I like to make mine with a cake mix. After all, we love making gooey butter cookies and cake mix cookies with cake mix, so why not give others a try??

Ingredients for st. patrick's day crinkle cookies in a white mixing bowl.

HOW TO MAKE ST. PATRICK’S CRINKLE COOKIES

I’ve seen some versions of green crinkle cookies that are made with green food coloring and mint extract. But even though the shamrock shakes at McDonald’s are always all the rage this time of year, I think of mint as a winter flavor – not spring.

So instead, I decided to turn to my favorite green baking ingredient – pistachio pudding mix!

We’ve used pistachio pudding mix to make pistachio pudding cake, pistachio pudding linzer cookies, and layered pistachio pudding dessert. Now it’s the perfect way to get that seasonal green in these crinkle cookies.

St. Patrick's Day crinkle cookie dough being stirred in a white mixing bowl.

Ingredients you’ll need

Like my other crinkle cookie recipes, you only need a handful of pantry staples to make these cookies:

White cake mix: I use a white cake mix in this recipe to help the green from the pudding mix stand out. Since white cake mix is (obviously) white, it won’t mute the green color like a yellow cake mix would.
Instant pistachio pudding mix: This is going to flavor the cookies and give them that lovely green color!
Eggs: Two eggs help to bind the cookies.
Vegetable oil: This recipe uses a bit more oil than my other crinkle cookie recipes due to the addition of the pudding mix. But don’t worry, the texture of them is still going to turn out perfect!
Vanilla extract: This ingredient is technically optional, but I like the extra boost of flavor it adds to the cookies.
Powdered sugar: The dough gets rolled in powdered sugar before the cookies are baked. Find out how to make powdered sugar if you run out and don’t want to make a trip to the store!

I like the green color that the pistachio pudding mix gives to these St. Patrick’s Day crinkle cookies, but you can always add a drop or two of green food coloring for an extra bold green color.

Ball of crinkle cookie dough being rolled in a bowl of powdered sugar.

Making this recipe

Using your stand mixer with the paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, and vanilla until well combined.

Add the powdered sugar to a shallow bowl. Scoop out portions of the dough – use a medium cookie scoop to make this easy – and drop them into the powdered sugar.

Roll the dough balls in the powdered sugar, then place them on a lined sheet pan.

Unbaked st patrick's day crinkle cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, ready to go in the oven.

The cookies will bake for 7-9 minutes. When they’re done, the bottoms will be set and the edges will be very slightly golden, but the middles will still look a bit undercooked – that’s ok!

Let your St. Patrick’s Day crinkle cookies cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before you move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Overhead view of st. patrick's day crinkle cookies cooling on a wire rack.

STORAGE SUGGESTIONS

Once your crinkle cookies have cooled, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

If you’d like to freeze these St. Patrick’s Day crinkle cookies, freeze them in an airtight container or zip-top freezer bag for up to a month. Thaw the cookies at room temperature before enjoying.