I totally forgot to buy St. Patrick’s Day gifts this year. Yes, people really do exchange gifts for St. Patrick’s Day; at least they do with me. I tend to celebrate it as a third birthday, after my real birthday and half birthday. If you haven’t started celebrating your half birthday you don’t know what you’re missing. As a December baby, I love getting the opportunity to celebrate when it’s warm outside, and people aren’t all caught up in the Christmas hustle and bustle.
So I needed to come up with something inexpensive, that could also serve multiple groups of people. I had almost an entire batch of Celebrate Good Times Vanilla Cake Mix Cookies left from my third week’s entry to the SOLO Simple But Good Recipe Contest. I started brainstorming on what I could do with them to repurpose them for St. Patrick’s Day. After a little bit of thought, and a quick search on Pinterest, I decided to create a gift bag with a “Rainbows and Pots of Gold” theme.
The real stroke of genius was deciding to use this picture of Brenna dressed up as a leprechaun. Isn’t she adorable? Doesn’t she just look full of “Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy? Did I mention the fact that some of these “gifts” were for co-workers? Not all of them know about Brenna, so I’m pretty sure I’m the crazy cat lady to some of them now.
Just in case you’re wondering, Brenna, hates wearing the leprechaun hat. I’m not sure if I’m up for the challenge of putting it on her again this year. She does, however, tolerate a stretchy ribboned and sequined collar that I put on her, for the first five minutes at least.
Rolo Chewy Caramels make perfect pots of gold. Pinterest has many great ideas using various kinds of colored candy and gold coins. Have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day, and don’t forget to avoid the green beer, it’s leprechaun pee.
Ingredients:
- 2 Eggs
- 1/4 Teaspoon Instant Espresso Coffee
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
- 1 (15.25-oz.) Box French Vanilla Cake Mix
- 1/2 Cup Melted Unsalted Butter
- 1 (12-oz.) Bag Milk Chocolate M&M’s Minis
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix eggs, instant espresso, and vanilla on low speed for 30 seconds.
- Add cake mix, then melted butter; mix on low speed just until everything is incorporated.
- Stir M&M’s into the dough with a spatula.
- Allow cookie dough to rest for 5 minutes.
- Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough onto a Silpat or parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until the tops just start to turn golden brown.
- Remove cookies from oven and let rest on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes.
- Move cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
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