You don’t have to be Irish to lean in to the fun that St. Patrick’s Day brings. It’s a time to gather your nearest and dearest, make an Irish-inspired meal like corned beef and cabbage or a hearty stew, crack open a Guinness, and break out your finest green attire. Of course, no party is complete without dessert, so we’ve rounded up 25 of our favorites that will make you feel lucky.
Unlike bigger holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day offers a lot more flexibility when it comes to dreaming up your dessert spread. Without rigid expectations, you can really get creative with whatever sweet treats you offer. During parades, gold coins are often tossed onto the streets for kids to grab. Because of this, chocolate desserts are an obvious choice at any St. Patrick’s Day party.
There are plenty of adults-only treats too that are loaded with boozy beverages like Guinness and Irish whiskey such as a chocolate stout cheesecake and Guinness brownies If fruity desserts are more your thing, apples are still abundant — and very on brand. For kid-friendly options, consider anything with a hint of green food coloring. Still, there’s room for the classics, like Irish soda bread and traditional Gur cake. We hope this list of St. Patrick’s Day desserts inspires a sweet spread on March 17.
Much like how coffee enhances the richness of chocolate, stout beer does the same. Here, it’s added to a silky chocolate cheesecake filling that gets poured into a chocolate sandwich cookie crust. For even more decadence, finish the cheesecake off with a stout beer-infused chocolate ganache.
One of our favorite St. Patrick’s Day flavor duos comes together in this easy grasshopper pie. Traditionally a grasshopper pie has a minty chiffon filling made with egg whites and gelatin, but here we’ve simplified matters and created a cream cheese-based filling that requires no baking. We can’t think of a better option for chocolate and mint lovers!
Sticky toffee pudding is one of those classic desserts that’s welcome at any party. While the cake stays moist and tender, we can’t get enough of the toffee sauce that gets draped overtop. We love serving these as individual cakes for easy entertaining
Guinness is the missing ingredient you never knew you needed to take brownies to the next level. The stout beer not only keeps them moist, but brings out deeper chocolate notes. Finish this batch off with a green-tinted white chocolate frosting.
The joy of an icebox cake is that it comes together quickly with no baking required. This one is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, thanks to pistachio instant pudding and chopped pistachios, which turn the cake green. Keep it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve.
No need to wait in line at a fast food joint to get your Shamrock Shake fix — you can make one at home! To make this beloved St. Patrick’s Day drink, all it takes is adding vanilla ice cream, milk, mint extract, green food coloring and whipped cream to a blender and whir until creamy.
Lean in to the joy of store-bought conveniences to whip up this light-as-air pistachio cake. Instant pistachio pudding not only adds a ton of flavor, but also the festive green color. The cake is best served cold, so it’s the perfect dessert when you want something to make ahead of time.
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Double-Chocolate Bread Pudding with Bourbon Whipped Cream
Cinnamon raisin bread and torn croissants get a double dose of chocolate in this bread pudding. The custard is studded with chocolate chips AND swirled with chocolate syrup, ensuring chocolate in every bite. Top with a spiced pecan crumble topping and dollops of bourbon whipped cream.
This boozy cake is the perfect finale to any St. Patrick’s Day party. The chocolate batter comes together quickly and stays moist, thanks to the addition of sour cream and Irish stout. Top it off with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting.
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Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce
Bread pudding’s versatility makes it a beloved dish for any time of day. Here, challah is soaked in a sweetened condensed milk-based custard that’s studded with raisins. Drape it in a luscious caramel sauce just before serving.
Chocolate mousse is one of those desserts that’s always in style. While sophisticated in flavor, this sweet treat couldn’t be easier to make. Better yet, they can be made ahead of time to cut down on dinner party prep.
For an adults-only dessert, we love these classic cupcakes. The chocolate batter is infused with Irish stout, which creates a depth of flavor without being overly boozy. Top them off with cream cheese frosting.
Chocolate bark is one of the easiest sweet treats you can make for any holiday. This version channels St. Patrick’s Day by dressing up semisweet and white chocolate with pretzels, crushed potato chips and green and white candies.
Chocolate lovers won’t be able to get enough of this triple-chocolate threat. Moist chocolate cake is layered with chocolate pudding and with chocolate frosting. Top it off with crumbled cake for even more texture in every bite.
These chocolate leprechaun hats only require a handful of ingredients to come together. Chocolate-dipped marshmallows are placed on chocolate-covered cookies until they harden. Decorate them with a shamrock candy to go all-in to the St. Patrick’s Day theme.
Channel the luck of the Irish by adding some clovers to your dessert spread. Tiny balls of foil are the key to making these cute clover-shaped cupcakes. Just roll small pieces of foil into tiny balls and place them in between the filled liners and the cupcake tin before baking to shape them into clovers.
No St. Patrick’s Day spread is complete without a side of Irish soda bread. Dylan Dreyer’s version has been passed down through generations and still holds up all these years later. Make sure to serve it with a pad of good Irish butter!
Chocolate and mint come together to create the ultimate Irish-inspired treat for St. Patrick’s Day. After these brownies come out of the oven, they’re topped with a mint-infused creamy layer that hardens in the fridge. To top it off, the brownies are draped in a chocolate ganache and decorated with chopped mints before serving.
A Gur cake is a distinctly traditional cake that hails from Dublin, Ireland. Although it goes by other names in other parts of the country, this version features a thick paste studded with dried fruit between two layers of flaky puff pastry.
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Apple Crumble Cake with Caramel and Apple Icing
With a few upgrades, this cake transforms from a beloved classic to a true show-stopper. To start, there are two layers of cake instead of one for even more apple flavor. Then, there’s an apple-infused caramel along with a buttery crumble that gets scattered over each cake, bringing the whole thing together.
It doesn’t get more Irish than adding Guinness directly to cake batter! Along with chocolate, the national stout adds a depth of flavor to every bite. Finish it off with a luscious cream cheese frosting.
Don’t be fooled by how pretty these cupcakes look — they’re laced with Irish whiskey, making them a perfect adults-only sweet treat. The cake batter is infused with both coffee and whiskey to offer that signature Irish coffee flavor, while the frosting is spiked for a little extra oomph.
Tiramisu gets an Irish upgrade with Guinness-flavored caramel sauce. Add it between the layers of lady fingers, mascarpone and cocoa powder for an extra decadent flavor in every bite. Make it the night before your St. Patrick’s Day party to let all the flavors infuse — and cut down on prep time while you’re at it.
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Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce
Bread pudding works just as well for brunch as it does for dessert. It’s a great dish to throw together last minute, as it only takes a few pantry staples to come together. Our favorite part? The whiskey sauce that gets poured over before serving.