Taste o' the Irish: St. Patricks Day Desserts Ideas

Along with the corned beef and cabbage, lavish the lads and lasses with a display of St. Patricks Day sweets! Arrange chocolate coins in the colors of the Irish flag alongside shamrock-shaped cookies and cupcakes frosted in green with clover picks. Take a wee bit o' time to browse through this gallery for a treasure trove of lucky (and delectable) ideas for candy and desserts. Visit your Party City store for a rainbow of other candy choices!

This leprechaun's loss is your lucky day: He left his li'l green cauldron full of chocolate coins and mini gumballs! Layer orange, white and green gumballs in the clear tubes they come in for fun St. Paddy's favors. Stick on favor labels with unique, handwritten messages and arrange in a wee pot o' green with gold coins to look like a leprechaun's lost treasure! Visit your local Party City store for chocolate coins and shamrock stickers.

What's luckier than a rainbow? A rainbow made of candy! Gather a candy assortment of mini gumballs, candy sticks, Twizzlers and chocolate coins, then arrange them in clear pretzel bags and favor bags for sweet little packs of rainbows, clouds and leprechaun gold. Tie off the bags with curling ribbon and present to the lucky lads and lasses – they'll be over the rainbow for these packaged sweets! Visit your local Party City store for pretzel bags, Twizzlers and chocolate coins.

These cupcakes have a St. Paddy's surprise baked inside: booze! All it takes is a wee bit o' Baileys, stout and Irish whiskey to make two batches of cupcakes for your mates. Use clover-printed baking cups and shamrock picks for Beer & Baileys Cupcakes with St. Paddy's cheer. To make these clever "cupcake signs" for your Wee Bit o' Whiskey Cupcakes, write fun sayings on stickers and attach them to cake pop sticks. Check out our recipes for the lowdown on these spirited treats!

Showing off gummi bears, rock candy and mini gumballs in clear containers is a fun way to represent Ireland's flag. Use oversized martini glasses, popcorn boxes or mini black cauldrons filled with chocolate coins and rainbow Twizzlers for fun-size pots o' gold! Infuse your tray with even more Emerald Isle spirit by hand-writing labels and custom-printing mini St. Paddy's Day cards with Irish sayings. Erin go bragh! Visit your local Party City store for gummi bears, Twizzlers, chocolate coins and candy scoops.

The right presentation takes St. Patricks Day desserts like cookies and cake pops from kid's fare to classy! For a fresh take on cake pops forget the sticks and display them like truffles in mini baking cups. Pair the cake pops with shamrock cookies in light and dark green, and cream-filled cookies decked out with themed sprinkles. 'Tis a tasty plate o' treats! Visit your local Party City store for green and white candy melts.

Forget kissing a Blarney Stone for a gifted tongue – let your cupcakes do the talking! Tell your shamrock sweetie how much they mean to you with cupcakes decorated with a green fondant clover. Start with a batch of your fave cupcakes and frosting. Tint white fondant with green icing color, then roll fondant flat and cut out shamrock shapes with a cookie cutter. Place fondant clovers on your cupcakes, pipe on some sweet sayings with a decorating bag and offer up on a gold plate with shamrock sprinkles.

Youngsters will treasure this yummy sundae made with vanilla ice cream, a touch of peppermint extract and a bit of green coloring. Serve the icy treat in leprechaun-sized mini glasses so everyone can admire the emerald color while they dig in with little silver spoons. (For a grown-up version, it's easy to spike these with a touch of Baileys!) For a fun twist on the green color scheme, serve your shakes on a tray lined with argyle-patterned napkins. Check out our Mini Shamrock Sundaes Recipe for the how-to!

What a lucky find: Wee leprechaun hats made of chocolate and marshmallows! This whimsical fare is easy to whip up and perfect for little leprechauns to help make. Make the hats pop against yellow plates with St. Patricks Day tableware like a shamrock table cover and matching napkins, but watch out – these cute treats might disappear as quick as a leprechaun! Find out how to make these yummy marshmallow morsels at our how-to.

Stack two cake stands to make your cupcakes and cookies the "pot o' gold" of the desserts table. Create shamrock cookies with clover cookie cutters and green sprinkles. Deck out cupcakes in clover-printed baking cups, shamrock party picks and just a wee bit o' green icing color for this shamrock frosting effect. Check out our recipes for the how-to on these Lucky Clover Cupcakes – as delicious as they are lucky!