Everyone loves an excuse to bake and eat some sweets, and holidays are the perfect excuse. With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, one way to get festive and into the spirit is with some fun, easy desserts. Whether you’re going to a party, hanging out with a few friends, or are just in the mood to bake, here are seven St. Patty’s Day themed desserts to try.
- DIY Shamrock Shake
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If you’re a fan of McDonald’s Shamrock Shake, you can easily make it at home. All it takes is vanilla ice cream, milk, mint and vanilla extracts, and green food coloring. Once it’s all blended, you can add some whipped cream and cherries, mint leaves, or any other garnishes to help make the drink look as festive and authentic as possible. While it may not taste exactly like McDonald’s, it’s still a great minty and sweet shake. Now you can enjoy a Shamrock Shake all year round instead of waiting for March.
- Mint Oreo Truffles
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If you need an easy and quick option, mint Oreo truffles are a great go-to. It only takes three ingredients, and it’s a no-bake recipe. You’ll need Mint Oreos, cream cheese, and candy coating, and possibly some sprinkles for decoration. Once combining the Oreos and cream cheese together, they are rolled into balls and placed in the freezer for at least an hour. After that, dip the truffles into the melted candy coating, add some sprinkles, and enjoy some minty chocolate truffles.
- Shamrock Sugar Cookies
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Sugar cookies are a classic and an easy and reliable choice for any occasion. The only thing that sets these cookies apart is that you’ll need a shamrock shaped cookie-cutter, which you can easily find on Amazon. This is also a great option if you’re not a fan of mint, but still want to have that green, St. Patty’s Day theme to your desserts. You can also take some creative liberty with how you decorate these cookies, with the icing and garnishes. You can use food coloring dye to make different shades of green, add stripes or dots, or throw some sprinkles on them.
- Rainbow Fudge
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If you want to get away from the green theme, you can go for a rainbow theme instead. All that’s needed is different colored candy melts, vanilla extract, and condensed milk. While you don’t need too many ingredients and it’s not very complex to make, this one is a bit time consuming. After heating up each color candy melt then lining it in a pan, each layer has to cool in the fridge for about an hour, and the process is repeated for every color. Though the outcome is worth it, as the presentation is very appealing and results in great tasting fudge.
- Lucky charms Treats & Sandwiches
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Another classic go-to is Rice Krispies treats, but a St. Patty’s Day twist adds some Lucky Charms into the bars. This one also doesn’t require many ingredients, as you just need butter, mini marshmallows, salt, and Lucky Charms. The only caution you need to take is to not pack the cereal too tightly into the pan, so the bars are still soft enough. If you want to turn these bars into ice cream sandwiches, all you need to do is to add some ice cream (preferably strawberry) over one layer, then add one more layer of cereal over the ice cream.
- Shamrock Tarts
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Returning back to green desserts, shamrock tarts are simple and quick to make. This one requires a few more ingredients than the others, but only takes about 20 minutes to bake. For this dessert you’ll need rolled pie crusts or tart shells, white chocolate mix, milk, whipping cream, sugar, almond extract, peppermint extract, and green food coloring and sprinkles. This recipe mainly just asks to make icing to fill the crusts. After combining all ingredients, add them into the baked shells and decorate with any sprinkles or sugar you’d like.
- Mint Chocolate Cupcakes
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If you are a fan of mint and are looking for more minty desserts, try some mint chocolate cupcakes. This recipe is slightly more complicated than the others, but cupcakes are always a fan favorite and are sure to be a big hit. This calls for making the cupcake batter and frosting from scratch. Whatever mint cookie you choose to use (it’s recommended that a Girl Scout Thin Mint works best) will be placed at the bottom of each cupcake to add some more mint chocolate flavor to each cupcake. You can also add another on top of each cupcake along with any sprinkles or powder to use for decoration.
If you were stuck looking for something to bring to a party, now you can try one of these options. Gather some friends, start baking, and get into the St. Patty’s Day spirit!