Looking for more St. Patrick’s Day fun? Be sure to also check out our Layered Rainbow Jello and Blarney Stones [Peanut Cake Squares]!
Lucky Charms Snack Mix
When it comes to St. Patrick’s Day desserts, this easy cereal mix just might have all others beat simply for its addictive qualities. This leprechaun bait is impossible to resist! If you need a last minute snack idea that is great for kids’ school parties or no bake treats to make on St. Patrick’s Day, this is such a fun option. Little leprechaun helpers like my 6 and 4 year old girls enjoy dumping the ingredients into a big bowl and stirring it all together. And they love sneaking those marshmallows when mom isn’t looking, lol. Last year on St. Patrick’s Day, we made a leprechaun trap for the first time since it was our first year with an elementary school aged child. But in the morning, when my then-Kindergartner saw that the trap had been sprung, she panicked and refused to check it. She was totally convinced that there was a leprechaun trapped inside the box and begged me not to let it out. It wasn’t until after breakfast that she screwed up enough courage to peek. Unfortunately those sneaky leprechauns had escaped while she hesitated, but at least they left behind some gold coins. Then the leprechauns struck again at school while her class was out to recess, pulling out pencils, overturning chairs, and sprinkling glitter everywhere in her classroom. Clara was absolutely livid about the mess those naughty leprechauns made! I was dying over her anger at their bad behavior and she went on and on about how bad leprechauns are. Kids are the best. By the way, don’t wait until next week to make this Lucky Charms snack mix. National Cereal Day is March 7th and it’s a great excuse to enjoy this yummy treat! My kids and husband LOVE Lucky Charms. It’s probably their favorite “sugar cereal”, which we don’t have very often at our house. Growing up, my dad always teased that they were called “Yucky Charms”, and I do the same thing with my girls, who always giggle and groan at me that I’m getting the name wrong, AGAIN, lol. But while I eschew them for breakfast in favor of something more substantial, I have to confess that I love this sweet, crunchy cereal with those weird little “marshmallows” as a treat. Especially when they are counter balanced with salty pretzels and popcorn and creamy white chocolate.
St. Patrick’s Day Desserts
Even if you aren’t Irish, you can still celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and I’ve got some great desserts to help you do it! If you want to take a rainbow approach, obviously this snack mix is a great idea. So is my rainbow jello, which is always a hit! But you could also make my Homemade Rainbow Chip Frosting and use it to frost chocolate cupcakes. Or play up the green color scheme with these fudgy frosted chocolate mint brownies, which are great for sharing with friends or co-workers. You could even amp up the green in this cereal snack mix by sorting out just the green and yellow M&M’s from a party size bag and only using those instead of the pastel M&M’s that I chose to use in the pictures here. Throw in some holiday appropriate green shamrock and white and gold sprinkles (or Easter sprinkles – this snack mix is so easy to adapt to other holidays) and pastel M&M’s and you’ve got an irresistible combination of flavor and texture that is almost impossible to stop reaching for.
How to Melt White Chocolate
Bars of actual white chocolate that are chopped into small, uniform pieces will melt better than using white chocolate chips, which contain stabilizers that are actually intended to help the chips hold their shape and not melt.Go slow! White chocolate seizes and burns more easily than dark or milk chocolate, so a lower heat and slow melting is better.Be sure to stir frequently and thoroughly, even if the white chocolate doesn’t seem to be melting. This will help keep the white chocolate from getting too hot, as well as assist with even melting.Keep the white chocolate totally dry. Make sure any cutting boards, knives, bowls, spatulas for stirring, etc. used to melt the white chocolate are completely dry before using them with the white chocolate. Water can make the white chocolate seize up.
My preferred approach is to melt the white chocolate in a glass bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. It’s a make-do double boiler and I feel like it gives me the greatest control and ability to see how close the white chocolate is getting to being completely melted. Just stir the chopped white chocolate frequently and remove it from the pan of hot water before the white chocolate is completely melted! The residual heat from the white chocolate that has already melted and the bowl itself should be enough to finish melting the rest of the white chocolate, and if not, you can always stick the bowl back over the water for a little bit to help warm the chocolate back up and finish melting. But you can also take the approach where you melt white chocolate in the microwave. Many microwaves have functions for melting chocolate where it automatically decreases the power of the microwave, or you can just melt at 30% to 50% power in 20-30 second intervals, stirring well between each interval and maybe even doing shorter intervals towards the end. Again, you will want to stop before the white chocolate is completely melted and let the residual heat in the bowl and melted white chocolate do the work of finishing the job.
How to Make Leprechaun Bait
This recipe is a cinch to throw together. This recipe makes a big batch, and I’ll admit it’s dangerous to have around, but on the plus side, it doesn’t last long. As a variation, you could swap out the popcorn for Chex cereal and add 1 ½ cups of dry roasted peanuts to the mix.
More Cereal-Inspired Treats You’ll Love
Puppy Chow (aka Chex Mix Muddy Buddies)Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie TreatsCookie Butter Rice Krispie TreatsHalloween Chex Mix Muddy Buddies
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