St. Patrick's Day Recipes

St.Patricks Shortbread

Buttery shortbread, a layer of toffee and chocolate topping make these cookie bars a favorite sweet among families in Ireland. Invite your kids to help make a batch for a special St. Patrick's Day snack.

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 6-oz. bag of chocolate chips

1. Shortbread: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar. Stir in the flour until well mixed. Press the batter into a 9-inch square pan (a good job for kids). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Let cool. 2. Toffee: Melt the 1/2 cup of butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, condensed milk and corn syrup, and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring continually. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Pour over the cooled shortbread. 3. Topping: Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or a microwave oven. Stir until smooth. Pour over the cooled toffee. Cut into 16 squares.


Clover Cupcakes

Cupcake batter
Cupcake tins and liners
Aluminum foil
White frosting
Green food coloring
Toothpick
Green licorice (we used Twizzlers Rainbow Twists sold in a pack with other colors)


1. Place paper liners in 32 standard muffin cups, then fill each halfway with the batter. 2 For each cupcake, roll three balls of foil (ours were 2/3 inch in diameter) and insert them evenly around the perimeter between the liner and the tin, as shown. 3. Bake the cupcakes for a few minutes less than the package suggests (because there's less batter per cup than usual), or until a toothpick comes out clean. 4. Allow the cupcakes to cool, then remove them from the tin. 5. Cover each with green frosting (our ratio was 1 teaspoon of green food coloring to one 16-ounce can of white frosting). 6. Use a toothpick to draw leaf veins, and insert a 2-inch-long piece of green licorice for a stem