St Patrick’s Day isn’t a holiday that is know for its desserts or baked goods. Corned beef and cabbage are a little more likely to be what people looking to celebrate gravitate towards. But there are many delicious baked goods that are perfect for St. Pat’s, including both sweet and savory dishes, as well as those made with and without the help of a little green food coloring.
Shamrock Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (pictured) are easy to make chocolate wafer cookies topped with peppermint shamrocks, drawn with green tinted icing. I like to do a mixture of three and four leaf clovers. Eating them will make you feel a little lucky – and a little minty!
A Chocolate Stout Sheet Cake can use either Guinness – always a favorite drink for this holiday – or another chocolatey stout beer. It may not be green, but when made with Guinness it definitely has enough Irish spirit in it to work perfect for St Patrick’s Day and appease chocoholics.
Irish soda bread is a free form quick bread that can be as satisfying as any savory yeast bread – and made in less than half of the time. Traditional Irish Soda Bread is primarily flavored with buttermilk, but you can play with other flavors and make breads with oats and honey or citrus for a change of pace.
Tiramisu doesn’t sound particularly Irish (because it isn’t), but when you add a generous splash of Baileys Irish Cream, it starts to sound a lot more appropriate for St. Patrick’s Day. Baileys and Vanilla Tiramisu is a grown up dessert that is worthy of any celebration.
Green Velvet Cupcakes are a kid-friendly and very festive way to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Start with a recipe for red velvet cupcakes or even red velvet whoopie pies and substitute green food coloring for red to get a deep green Irish-inspired color to your cake.
What do you think?