ST. PATRICK’S DAY: Cocktails And Cookies

March 8, 2012 at 1:34 pm · Filed under Cocktails & Spirits, Cookies-Cake-Pastry, St. Patrick's Day

Here’s a fun way to enjoy Irish oatmeal on St. Patrick’s Day: with a Baileys Irish Cream cocktail and oatmeal cookies.

The recipe was developed at the R Lounge in Times Square, New York City, a venue listed by USA Today as one of the top 50 “best view” restaurants in the U.S. If you’re in the area, take in lunch (brunch on weekends) or dinner and enjoy the almost-360° view.

The cocktail is paired with cookies. Is this the beginning of a new trend? Does it presage dessert pairings of cocktails and cookies (or cupcakes)?

We hope so!

To Serve As Dessert

To turn this recipe into even more of a dessert, make little cookie ice cream sandwiches with vanilla ice cream.

Even better, soften a pint of vanilla and mix in 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) of Baileys Irish Cream to make Baileys ice cream.

Cookies and cocktails: the hot new combo? Photo courtesy R Lounge | Renaissance Hotel
| New York City.

You can either refreeze before making the sandwiches, or make the sandwiches with the softened ice cream and stick them in the freezer.

If there’s not enough Baileys flavor in the ice cream for you, you can add more; but beware that with too much alcohol, the ice cream won’t refreeze to its normal solidity.

IRISH OATMEAL COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients For One Drink

1-1/4 ounces / 38 ml Baileys Irish Cream

1 ounce / 30 ml DeKuyper Buttershots Liqueur or substitute*

3/4 ounce / 22 ml Goldschlager†

Ice

Optional garnishes: whipped cream, cinnamon

3 mini oatmeal cookies (or one large cookie)

Preparation

1. Combine spirits in a cocktail shaker. Pour over ice into a rocks glass.

2. Alternative: Shake with ice and strain into a Martini glass.

3. Garnish with a dab of whipped cream and a scant sprinkle of cinnamon.

Need An Oatmeal Cookie Recipe?

Here’s a classic recipe from Land O’ Lakes. To make mini cookies, use a rounded teaspoon instead of the rounded tablespoon in the recipe.

WHAT EXACTLY IS IRISH OATMEAL?

Irish oatmeal (as well as Scottish oatmeal) is simply steel-cut oats. The style is chewier and nuttier in flavor than other types of oatmeal. It’s also higher in fiber because it is less processed than rolled oats (and much higher in fiber and nutrients than instant oatmeal). Here’s an explanation from Julie Lanford, MPH, RD, CSO, LDN:

Steel-cut oats are the whole oat kernel, which is cut into two or three pieces using steel discs. They are a better source of fiber than rolled oats, but take longer to cook—20 minutes or more.

Rolled oats have the bran mostly removed and are rolled flat to make them easier to cook. With the bran removed, they have less fiber than steel-cut oats, and usually cook in 10 minutes.

Quick-cooking and instant oats are rolled oats that have been cut into smaller pieces and rolled thinner; thus they cook quickly—5 minutes for quick-cooking and a minute or two for instant oats. They are the easiest option for preparing many oatmeal dishes.

Normally one wouldn’t bake with regular steel cut oats, because they remain hard and chewy (that’s the point of using steel-cut oats). But if you want to “keep it Irish,” use McCann’s Quick & Easy Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal.

*Buttershots is a butterscotch flavored liqueur/schnapps. The flavor of butterscotch is a blend of butter and brown sugar.
†Goldschlager is a clear cinnamon liqueur that has hundreds of tiny flakes of real gold. It’s beautiful to drink in shots.

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