St. Patrick's Day Dessert Ideas

by Suchi Rudra

St. Patrick's Day celebrations are always festive. There are plenty of ways to incorporate all of the holiday's themes and symbols into your decor, your outfit and, most importantly, your menu. And when considering making festive and delicious desserts for this special day, you will find that it's much easier than finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

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Green Jello Shamrocks

A little green jello can go a long way. Make green jello according to the directions on the package. Then throw in some thinly sliced pieces of fruit, like kiwi or apple, that match the flavoring of the green jello that you are using. Either find shamrock-shaped cookie cutters and create a fun plate of jello shamrocks for "finger food," or try cutting out one large shamrock (or any fun shape you desire) from the original jello mold.

Green Rice Krispies Treats

These yummy treats do not require any baking. Make the Rice Krispies treats according to the standard recipe, but in keeping with the green theme, try to find green marshmallows. Usually, these will come in a bag of small, pastel-colored marshmallows, so you will have to pick out the green ones--you can get the kids to help you out. And before you press the mix into your pan, throw in some green M&Ms as well. Again, you may have to buy a bag of mixed colors and have the kids pick out the green ones. Use the plain chocolate kind, not the ones with peanuts, as those are rather large. And if you really want to go green, you can splash a bit of green food coloring into the mix.
End of the Rainbow Fruit Salad

Make an "end of the rainbow" fruit salad or have everyone at the party help you put it together. Set out an array of colorful fruits, aiming for one fruit per color of the rainbow. For example, you can use strawberries, oranges, pineapple/bananas, kiwi/green grapes, blueberries, plum/purple grapes. Mix 1/2 cup of honey with 1 cup of Greek yogurt as a dressing, and gently blend this into the salad so the fruit does not get too mushy.