Super delicious birthday cookies

{Keep scrolling down for some oldies but goodies in the St. Patrick's Day Cookies department.}

Please tell me it happens to you, too. You have a million, ok...three, ideas for cute holiday goodies to make and you just run.out.of.time.

It's happened to me. I have pickle & ice cream cookies drying in the kitchen and not one little shamrock to be found.

{Oh, I did I ever scare some people on twitter today when I tweeted that I was making Pickle & Ice Cream cookies! I got a few "you're making WHAT?" tweets back. That was fun. Shaped, not flavored cookies! }

So...here's an Irish Soda Bread recipe that you can whip up in less than 2 hours, start to finish. No rise time, no kneading....mix it and bake it. I make it every St. Patrick's Day.


Irish Soda Bread
{modified from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook}

4 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 TBSP caraway seeds
4 TBSP unsalted butter, cold
1 c. dark raisins
1 c. golden raisins
1 & 1/2 c. buttermilk
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg yolk
1 TBSP milk or cream

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and caraway seeds.

Cut the butter into about 8 pieces. Using a pasty cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.

Stir in the raisins.
{Let me add....I am not a raisin lover, but I love this bread!}

In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg and baking soda until well combined. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour and stir with a fork until all the liquid is absorbed and the dough holds together.

On the prepared pan, press the dough into a dome-shaped loaf of about 8 inches.

With a fork, whisk together the egg yolk and milk or cream. Brush onto the dough with a pastry brush. With a sharp knife, make an x-shaped slash in the top of the bread.

Bake about 70 minutes, tenting with foil after about 50 minutes if necessary. Cool on a wire rack.

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Alright...ready for some St. Patrick's Day cookie ideas?

From last year....sparkly shamrocks and pots o' gold:
{This is the post where I go on and on about how I wasn't to add a Mc to our last name. I'm not closer to that dream this year....but I'm not.giving.up.}

Next, Beer cookies:
{How can there be a St. Paddy's Day celebration without beer? Even if it is in the form of decorated cookies?}

And, Shamrocks with heart:
{Actually, these were for a friend's anniversary. Hi Terri & Pat! They had a St. Patrick's wedding.♥ I took the picture years ago when I thought one picture was enough and I then cropped & resized the heck out of it. I'm over that now.}

Happy St. Patrick's Day, McReaders! Every year about this time, I try to convince my husband to officially add a "Mc" to the beginning of our last name. No disrespect to my in-laws, our name is wonderful...but a "Mc"...that would add a little something. When I was going through my Gone with the Wind stage in high school, I was sure I would marry someone named O'Hara...Bridget O'Hara. Then, I fantasized about being Bridget McBride or even Bridget St. John....well, he's not going for it. Let's drown our sorrows in St. Paddy's cookies.

I thought I'd post a couple beer cookie pics since St. Patrick's Day is just 11 days away. :) With it falling so close to Easter this year, I'm not sure I'll make Easter AND St. Paddy's Day cookies, but in case your plans call for green beer cookies...here's a tip.

These top 2 pictures show how I first did them. I thought a star tip would work great for the "foam" at the top. Well, I didn't love the way they turned out and this way used A LOT of icing. Near the end, I was close to praying to St. Patrick to let the icing hold out through the last cookie.

Here's an easy little cookie for St. Patrick's Day...

1. Pipe the outline of a shamrock in white icing, using a #2 tip.
2. In the center of the cookie, pipe an outline of a heart in red, using a #2 tip. (AmeriColor Super Red)
3. Thin red and green icing to the consistency of syrup and let sit covered with a damp dishtowel for several minutes. Run a rubber spatula through the icing to pop any air bubbles that have formed on top.
4. Fill in outlined shamrock in green using a toothpick to guide into corners. Use a squeeze bottle for easy filling. (Spectrum Leaf Green)
5. Fill in heart with thinned red icing following method above.

***a note on green icing: a deep green like these shamrocks is susceptible to humidity. Sometimes, the icing will get a blotchy look and turn slightly darker. Not to worry, eventually the entire cookie will darken to an even shade. Although red and blue will do this as well, I find it happens most with green icing. Just try to keep the cookies in a non-humid environment and never put in the refrigerator.***