I have a new easy, no-bake holiday treat to share with you just in time for St. Patrick’s Day this Sunday. Lucky for me, it just happens to be Tuesday today, too! Wait, did I say lucky? Well, OK, maybe it’s more planning than luck that I’m posting this today in honor of Treat Tuesday. Either way, it’s your lucky day if you are looking for something to make right-quick for your green gathering later this week(end).
Lucky me, I had Girl Scout Cookies to incorporate into my St. Patrick’s Day treat tray this season. Read on for details!
Candiquik, sandwich cookies, holiday colors and sprinkles, M&Ms, and Girl Scout Cookies, with lots of green and lots of clovers. Looks like someone’s ready for St. Patrick’s Day! Well, I am anyway!
Make sure you use candy-approved food dyes or the Candiquik will seize up. Wilton makes dyes specifically for melted chocolate and candy coatings so read the labels to ensure you have the correct products (see photo for the one I bought). To achieve the color you desire, simply add a few drops of the dye at a time to the melted Candiquik; the more drops added, the darker the color. I varied my shades of green as I worked through my various product and decoration combinations.
A batch of St. Patrick’s Day Trader Joe’s Joe-Joe’s Vanilla Sandwich Cookies. I did another test run a week or two ago before I thought up the additional ideas included here.
This past weekend’s batch of St. Patrick’s Day themed Trader Joe’s Joe-Joe’s, topped with the Dark Chocolate Mint M&Ms and pretzel shamrocks.
Of course, no holiday for me is complete without Candiquik. To begin, I started by dipping Trader Joe’s Vanilla Joe-Joe’s sandwich cookies in melted vanilla Candiquik that’s been colored with Wilton’s candy-approved green dye. I finished those off with Wilton’s Shamrock sprinkle mix (found at Michael’s). I also decorated a few cookies with M&M’s seasonal Dark Chocolate and Mint green candies (found a small package at Joann’s Fabrics of all places – and they are hard to find, RMT’ers!) and a small stick of pretzel arranged to resemble a stem to the three-leaf shamrock design. Rustic and simple, yes, but it carries out a clear and easy-to-create St. Patrick’s Day message.
Next I moved onto Girl Scout Cookies, specifically Trefoils and Thin Mints. I initially thought of the Trefoils for their resemblance to a three-leaf clover, and secondarily I worked in the Thin Mints for the green theme in taste even if not in appearance. I dipped some of each in the green Candiquik and others in plain white and decorated all of them with the sprinkles or the M&M shamrock. Another easy embellishment to the cookies would be to forgo the sprinkles and candy toppings and reserve some of the white Candiquik before dyeing and drizzle that across your green treats instead.
Candiquik-dipped cookies and pretzels, all dressed up for St. Patrick’s Day!
Finally, I mentioned above that I had pretzels on hand, so I felt compelled to dip at least a handful of those in the Candiquik, too. I used to make Candiquik-dipped pretzels every Christmas season, but I’ve not done it in years. I have no idea why not; this is as delicious as I remember. They satisfy the sweet and salty craving in a single bite, which is especially nice for those looking to have just one small bite of treat rather than a whole candied cookie.
Green eggs and SPAM on St. Patrick’s Day 2012.
To make these clover-shaped sugar cookies, I took regular sugar cookie dough and dyed it green with regular food coloring, rolled it flat, and cut small hearts. Arrange three or four hearts point-side in to create either shamrocks or four-leaf clovers. Roll a small amount of green or regular cookie dough to finish with a stem. To make the rainbow, I reserved a small amount of sugar cookie dough to create the colored bands, dyeing each band with regular food coloring. I finished with a “cloud” of plain dough at one end. You could also make a pot-o-gold instead of the cloud. The Incredible Hulk also goes with your green theme (other super heroes just an added bonus). Bake all cookies at the usual time and temperature for your cookie recipe.
I can’t believe I didn’t blog about the green food that we made last St. Patrick’s Day, RMT’ers! Rather than rehash that a year later, I’ll just post a couple of memorable food photos from 2012 above. Cheers!
Plates full of Irish cheer just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Have a blessed and sweet weekend, RMT’ers!
Have a wonderful, happy-go-lucky St. Patrick’s Day week and weekend, RMT’ers! “May the road rise up to meet you; may the wind always be at your back.”
Real Mom Time (RMT) 
What awesome treats! So colorful! Have you ever noticed the tremendous role that color plays in representing and enriching certain holidays? For example, can you imagine Christmas without red holly berries and green pine trees? Or Halloween without orange pumpkins? Chanukah would certainly not be the same if white and blue were not its representative colors. There is no doubt that erasing traditional colors from holidays would change the depth of meaning of those special days, as well as our feelings toward them.
Yes, I know what you mean! And color is such a great way to introduce holidays to our kids, too. Thanks for posting!
Have a nice St Patty’s Day! http://www.segmation.wordpress.com
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