Directions

1. To make the cookies: Cream the butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the flour and continue stirring until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
   
2. Roll out the dough to ¼-inch thickness and use a 1 ½ inch round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.
   
3. Cut off approximately 1/3 of the cookie.
   
4. Use a small cookie cutter to cut out a ¾ inch hole (you can use a piping tip cover, or the cap off of the sprinkle jar—whatever works). Cut enough of a hole to make a uniform rainbow shape (see photo). Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 6 to 8 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
   
5. Cool completely, and then pipe cookie icing in rainbow colors on each rainbow cookie.
   
6. Cut a small portion off of the end of each malted milk ball (don't cut them in half, you want the effect to be a "pot of gold").
   
7. Place a small amount of yellow cookie icing on the cut side of the malted milk balls and dip in the gold sprinkles.
   
8. Add green food coloring to ¾ of the frosting and mix until you achieve your desired shade of green. Reserve ¼ of the white frosting to make the clouds. Pipe the green frosting on each cupcake.
   
9. Sprinkle green and white sprinkles on each cupcake. Pipe white clouds on one side.
   
10. Insert a cookie into each cupcake; pipe additional "clouds" behind the cookies to help them stand up.
    
11. Pop a "pot of gold" at the end of each rainbow.