Mexican Flag Cookies
Submitted by 71717
Mexican flag cookies bake a coconut-extract sheet cookie cut into 3×4 rectangles, then decorate with green, white, and red icing stripes plus a chocolate eagle. Cinco de Mayo party favorite.
YIELD
9 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
17 minREADY
45 minMexican flag cookies are the perfect themed bake for Cinco de Mayo, Mexican Independence Day (September 16), or any patriotic celebration. The cookie itself is a soft, brown-sugar-based sheet cookie with coconut extract for a subtle floral note, baked in a 9×13 pan and cut into rectangles that mimic the Mexican flag’s proportions.
The coconut extract is what saves these from being just another cut-out cookie. It adds a tropical, almost macaroon-like undertone that pairs beautifully with the chocolate eagle piped over the white center stripe.
The decoration is the showcase. Three small bowls of icing (red, white, green) get spread or piped onto the cookie in vertical stripes, and a melted chocolate piping bag draws the eagle-and-snake emblem on the white center. Kids love helping with the assembly.
Pro Tips
- Don’t overbake. The cookie should be set but still pale, around 14 to 17 minutes. Overbaked sheet cookies turn dry and crumbly when cut into rectangles.
- Cool only 2 minutes in the pan, then cut. Cooled-completely cookies crack and crumble during cutting; warm cookies cut clean.
- Mix the icing thick enough to hold its shape on the cookie. Runny icing flows over the lines and the flag stripes blur into a muddy mess.
- Microwave the chocolate chips in short 30-second bursts, kneading the bag between bursts. Long microwaving scorches chocolate, especially semi-sweet chips.
Variations
- Use vanilla extract instead of coconut extract for a more classic flavor profile.
- Make these as Italian flag cookies by simply switching the stripe order (green-white-red horizontal instead of vertical).
- Pipe a simple ‘M’ or a cactus on the white stripe instead of the detailed eagle for a quicker decoration.
Serve with Mexican hot chocolate or horchata for a themed dessert spread.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat oven to 350℉ (180℃).
Place sheets of foil on counter top for cooling cookies.
Grease a 9×13 pan with shortening. Combine shortening, brown sugar, milk and coconut extract in large bowl.
Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended.
Beat egg into creamed mixture.
Combine flour, salt and baking soda.
Mix into creamed mixture just until blended.
Spread dough evenly into prepared pan.
Bake at 375~ for 14 to 17 minutes.
Do not overbake.
Cool 2 minutes in pan. Cut into 3×4 inch rectangles.
Remove cookies to foil to cool.
ICING-Stir the confectioners’ sugar and millk until smooth.
Add additional sugar if paste is too thin.
Divide icing into 3 small bowls.
Add food coloring to achieve the desired shade of green and red to two bowls, leaving 1 bowl white.
Decorate to resemble Mexican flags.
Place chips in a heavy re-sealable bag.
Micro on MEDIUM for 1 minute or until melted, checking every 30 seconds.
Knead bag until smooth. Cut tip off corner of bag and pipe Mexican flag emblem onto cookies.
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