Saint Patrick’s Day Recipes

Cooking for Kids

Kids don’t have to be Irish to enjoy celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day. Start the day by serving the kids some shamrock-shaped pancakes, rainbow toast, or Irish soda bread, and green milk. Use cookie cutters to make shamrock-shaped sandwiches for lunch. Serve corned beef and cabbage or Irish shepherd’s pie for dinner and let the kids have Irish Potatoes (a candy) for dessert. Don’t forget to let the kids follow the leprechaun footprints and other fun ideas listed on our blog. Here’s how to make the holiday recipes.

Irish Soda Bread

Although the Irish didn’t invent soda bread they are often identified with the yummy treat. It is absolutely delicious!

You Will Need:

3 tablespoons softened butter or margarine
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup raisins or currants
3/4 cup buttermilk or milk combined with 1 tablespoon of vinegar
A dusting of confectioners sugar

What to Do:

1. Heat oven to 375ºF.
2. Grease cookie sheet.
3. Cut butter into flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl, using pastry blender or crisscrossing two knives, until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
4. Stir in raisins and just enough buttermilk so dough leaves side of bowl.
5. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead one to two minutes or until smooth. Shape into round loaf.
6. Place on cookie sheet. Cut an X shape about 1/2 inch deep through loaf with floured knife.
7. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Once cooled, sprinkle confectioners sugar through a sifter over the bread.

Rainbow Toast

This rainbow toast makes a great after school snack for hungry little children.

You Will Need:

Bread
Milk
Paint Brushes
Food Coloring

What to Do:

1. Mix a small amount of milk and a few drops of food dye in various little bowls. Be sure to make all the colors in the rainbow, or at least a few key ones. Don’t forget – ROY G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet)
2. Let the kids paint their pieces of bread in all the colors of the rainbow. Be sure to use new paintbrushes or ones you only use for food.
3. Once a piece of bread is fully painted, place it in the toaster. The heat will bring out the colors and make your once soggy bread nice and crispy.
4. If your little ones decide not to leave the toast for the leprechauns, give them a brief history on Saint Patrick’s Day while they are munching away.

Shamrock-Shaped Pancakes

The easiest breakfast or snack for kids is pancakes. You can always use a pancake mix if you don’t want to make our pancake recipe from scratch.

You Will Need:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Green food coloring
Shamrock cookie cutter

What to Do:

1. Mix all the ingredients adding a few drops of green food coloring. Don’t over mix, it’s okay to have lumpy batter. If you over mix the batter the pancakes will come out too heavy.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat.
3. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle or enough batter to fit your clover-shaped cookie cutter on the pancake.
4. When the bubbles on the pancake begin to pop flip the pancake over so that they are brown on each side.
5. Remove pancakes and place on a cutting board or plate and press the shamrock cookie cutter into one pancake at a time to create green clover-shaped pancakes.

Irish Potato Candy

This candy is given the name of Irish Potatoes because they are typically shaped and rolled in ground cinnamon to look like potatoes.

You Will Need:

1/4 cup softened butter
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (16 ounce) packages confectioners sugar
7 ounces or 2-1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

What to Do:

1. In a medium bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth.
2. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and beat until smooth.
3. Using your hands if necessary, mix in the coconut.
4. Roll into balls or potato shapes, and roll in the cinnamon.
5. Place onto a cookie sheet and chill to set. If desired, roll potatoes in cinnamon again for darker color.

Irish Shepherd’s Pie

Traditionally the pie is made with ground lamb but we used ground beef. Click here to see our recipe for Irish Sheperd’s Pie.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

I find it easiest to buy a pre-packaged, pre-seasoned corned beef from the grocery store when making the traditional Saint Patrick’s Day dinner. But I found a great corned Beef recipe that the kids love. Click here to see the directions.