Irish Fifteens are an easy no-bake dessert that are totally irresistible! Mix them up in a matter of minutes, then chill, slice, and serve! Make these traditional biscuits from Northern Ireland and serve them for dessert or for a party!
Why are these Irish ‘Biscuits’ Called Fifteens?
These ‘biscuits’ are simple to put together with simple ingredients. The name ‘Fifteens’ comes from the fact that you use fifteen large marshmallows, fifteen candied cherries, and fifteen digestive biscuits (or graham crackers) in the recipe.
Makes the recipe easy to remember, right?!
Sweetened condensed milk is used to bind all of the ingredients together, then the mixture is shaped into a log, and rolled in desiccated coconut. Chill and then cut the log into…you guessed it – 15 pieces!
Where did Irish Fifteen’s Come From?
Irish Fifteens are a traybake from Ulster. They are not commonly served outside of Northern Ireland or County Donegal.
But with the ease of this recipe and it’s use of common ingredients, I think that it should be more popular worldwide!
Irish Fifteens are often referred to as a traybake but there is no baking involved. This makes them even more appealing because they only require a quick mixing of the ingredients and then rolling. Then pop them in the fridge and wait a few hours.
If you are headed to Northern Ireland, you can buy the best at Holmes Bakery in Craigavon – find all of the info HERE!
How to Make Easy, No-Bake Irish Fifteens
There isn’t much to the method of making Fifteens. The steps are SO SIMPLE:
- First, grind up the digestive biscuits or graham crackers in a food processor and pulse until they are fine crumbs. If you don’t have a food processor, place them in a ziploc bag, seal well and crush with a rolling pin until you have fine crumbs.
- Next, pour the crumbs into a medium bowl. Cut up 15 large marsmallows. Cut each one into 4 to 6 pieces. Add these to the bowl with the crumbs.
- Cut 15 candied cherries (aka glace cherries) into 2 to 3 pieces each. Add these to the bowl with the crumbs and marshmallows.
- Add 150mL of the sweetened condensed milk and stir everything together. If the mixture doesn’t hold together, add a little more condensed milk.
- Place a piece of cling wrap on the counter and spread the desiccated coconut down the center. Scoop the mixture from the bowl on top of the coconut in a rounded shape. Cover the exposed mixture with more desiccated coconut.
- Wrap the cling wrap around the mixture and shape into a rounded tube, like a large sausage. push in on the ends to compact the mixture and reshape as needed.
- Chill for 4 to 24 hours. Remove the cling wrap and slice into 15 slices.
- ENJOY!
Variations for This Recipe
Traditional Irish Fifteens are made with digestive biscuits, candied cherries, marshmallows, and coconut. Try using one of these variations! The sky is the limit with these delicious treats!
- Replace the digestives with graham crackers, biscoff cookies, Nilla wafers, gingersnaps or chocolate biscuit cookies.
- To change up the fruit, you can replace the cherries with another type of candied fruit like pineapple, dried mango, dried cranberries, or dried blueberries.
- Use mini marshmallows instead of large marshamllows. There are tons of flavored marshmallows on the market now like strawberry, pumpkin spice, peppermint, and more! Get creative with store bought marshmallows or make your own!
- Instead of rolling the mixture in coconut, try rolling it in toasted and crushed nuts or crushed cereal like Cheerios, Fruit loops, or Cinnamon Toast Crunch!
Other alternatives for Fifteens
There are several bakeries that sell Fifteens in Northern Ireland. Many of them sell small squares that are cut from a pan. You can follow their lead and make this recipe even easier! Line a pan with parchment paper and press the mixture into the pan. Cover with coconut. Chill, cut into squares, and serve!
Check out some of our other Irish Recipe!
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Irish Fifteens - No-Bake Irish Dessert
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Cling Film
Ingredients
- 15 graham cracker squares or 15 digestive biscuits
- 15 Glace or Candied Cherries
- 15 Large Marshmallows or about 60 mini marshmallows
- 150 mL to 180 mL sweetened condensed milk
- 100 to 150 grams desiccated coconut flakes finely chopped if needed
Instructions
- In a food processor, grind up the digestive biscuits or graham crackers until they are fine crumbs. If you don't have a food processor, place them in a Ziploc bag, seal well and crush with a rolling pin until you have fine crumbs.
- Pour the crumbs into a medium bowl. Cut up 15 large marshmallows. Cut each one into 4 to 6 pieces. Add these to the bowl with the crumbs.
- Chop 15 candied cherries (aka glace cherries) into 2 to 3 pieces each. Add these to the bowl with the crumbs and marshmallows.
- Add 150mL of the sweetened condensed milk and stir everything together. If the mixture doesn't hold together, add a little more condensed milk, up to 30mL more.
- Place a piece of cling wrap on the counter and spread the desiccated coconut down the center. Scoop the mixture from the bowl on top of the coconut in a rounded shape. Cover the exposed mixture with more desiccated coconut to coat evenly on all sides.
- Wrap the cling wrap around the mixture and shape into a rounded tube, like a large sausage. push in on the ends to compact the mixture and reshape as needed.
- Chill for 4 to 24 hours. Remove the cling wrap and slice into 15 slices. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to one week.
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Just found this by accident and decided I’ll make this for my daughter’s 15th birthday tomorrow! Fifteens for a fifteenth. 🙂
Oh, that’s awesome! Happy birthday to your daughter!
I agree that this recipe is really easy and fun. It is known to me as ‘Canadian Roll’ and I have enjoyed it for many years.
That’s good to know! I will do a little more research and add that to the post!
Tanya, what an intriguing recipe!!!! Had never heard of it, love the name, and it is sooooo unusual! So it must be consumed cold, straight from the fridge, right?
Once it sets, and you slice it, it will hold its shape, even at room temperature. But it does get a bit sticky at room temp. I put each slice in a cupcake wrapper and that worked really well!