Leprechaun Bait makes for the most addictive for St. Patrick’s Day treat. This festive mix is made with Chex and Lucky Charms cereal with white chocolate and M&Ms coming together easily with no baking required.
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Easy St. Patrick's Day Treat
If you’ve tried my Funfetti Puppy Chow or my Oreo Muddy Buddies, you know just how addicting a sweet and salty cereal snack is. This Leprechaun Bait is no exception and it’s perfect for your St. Patty’s celebrations.
This St. Patrick's Day snack mix is made salty pretzels and chex cereal for the perfect crunch, which then gets coated in a rich, melted white chocolate drizzle making the sweetest little clusters, and we add in green M&M’s and Lucky Charm Marshmallows to make it super festive!
I shared this with my Pilate instructors when I made it and I got these texts: “not this bag of lucky charms crack being my breakfast right now”, “omg it’s CRACK”, “I can’t stop eating this. How is it SO good?” And you know what? Jack said the SAME thing. We’re both enjoying what feels like a pot of gold after lunch today while I type this up. Your whole family is going to love it. If you try it, let me know what you think in the comments!
Recipe Inspiration
I’m always looking for fun and simple recipes, especially for seasonal holidays. I love my No Bake Valentine’s Cookies and this recipe is similar. No bake, just melt some chocolate and toss over favorite snacks/cereal (what could be better?!).
Recipe Ingredients
- Chex Cereal - Plain corn chex or rice chex are my preference.
- Lucky Charms - We will use the cereal and extra of the marshmallows.
- Synder’s Itty Bitty Mini Pretzels - Just use mini if you can't find or pretzel sticks are an option, too.
- Green M&Ms - TIP: When I make my holiday Avalanche Cookies or Kitchen Sink Cookies around Christmas, I always end up with an extra bag of green & red M&M's on hand. I use the Red m&ms for Valetine’s day and this recipe is a great treat to use up the green ones.
- White Chocolate - I used Ghirardelli melting chips.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
- Instead of green M&Ms, use green sprinkles or other green candies. Yogurt-covered raisins would be a perfect addition, too.
- Try including some salted peanuts or honey roasted nuts. Nothing beats sweet & salty!
- For an additional crunch, add crushed saltines or some popcorn.
- If you want a super festive treat, add a few drops of green food coloring to the mix of white chocolate.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside a few Lucky Charms marshmallows for topping.
2. Melt white chocolate chips with coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl, increments of 30 seconds to avoid chocolate melting. Stir until completely smooth.
3. Pour white chocolate on top of dry ingredients in the large mixing bowl and stir with a rubber spatula until everything is coated. Work quickly, the white chocolate will harden in a short period of time.
4. Spread the mixture onto the parchment lined baking sheet, sprinkle remaining marshmallows on top, and let it harden. You can toss the sheet pan in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to expedite the process. Enjoy!
Pro Tip
- Work quickly after pouring the white chocolate on the mixture. It will harden quickly!
- Do not skip the parchment (or you can use wax paper)! It’s to ensure the chocolate doesn’t harden to the pan. You may also be able to get away with greasing a cookie sheet with oil if you don’t have any.
Recipe FAQs
Store in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 5 days. You can also freeze this trail mix for up to 3 months.
Make sure the mixture is completely cooled before storing. If it’s still warm from the melted chocolate, steam will get trapped in the container and make it soggy.
This is such a fun treat for class parties! I recommend adding portion sizes of the leprechaun snack mix to cellophane bags for easy distribution to all the little leprechauns in elementary school:) These little bags make great party favors for school because the leprechaun bait recipe nut free, too.
It’s likely your chocolate has burned or “seized." This is why you need to stir it between intervals. However, if you catch the burning chocolate early enough, you may be able to save it by whisking in an additional teaspoon of coconut oil or another neutral oil and mixing gently in an attempt to loosen the seized clumps.
Instead of melting the chocolate in the microwave, you can choose to do so over a double boiler.
To do so, place 1 inch of water in a sauce pot and heat until it’s just about to boil. Place a bowl that fits on top of the pot and rests on the rim without the bottom of the bowl touching the water. Add the chips to the top bowl. Melt chocolate chips, stirring occasionally, until smooth
Be gentle when mixing your chocolate in. Drizzle the white chocolate over the entire bowl (rather than dumping in a pile on top of the dry ingredients) and use light pressure on your rubber spatula to get everything coated. This is to prevent crushed Chex (they are delicate).
Also let your mixture set completely before diving in. This is a trick I use with my Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola to end up with the largest clusters.
More Recipes You'll Love
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & if you really like the recipe consider leaving a comment further down. Thanks for visiting!
Recipe
Leprechaun Bait
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Small mixing bowl microwave safe
- Rubber Spatula
- parchment paper
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 2 cups Chex cereal
- 2 cups Lucky Charm cereal
- ½ cup Lucky Charms marshmallows
- 2 cups Synder’s Itty Bitty Mini Pretzels
- ⅓ cup mini M&M's
- 1 bag Ghirardelli white chocolate melting chips, 10 oz
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside a few Lucky Charms marshmallows for topping.
- Melt white chocolate chips with coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl, increments of 30 seconds to avoid chocolate melting. Stir until completely smooth.
- Pour white chocolate on top of dry ingredients in the large mixing bowl and stir with a rubber spatula until everything is coated. Work quickly, the white chocolate will harden in a short period of time.
- Spread the mixture onto the parchment lined baking sheet, sprinkle remaining marshmallows on top, and let it harden. You can toss the sheet pan in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to expedite the process. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
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I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
Sydney Van Acker says
maybe, ever so slightly, OBSESSED
Courtney Paige says
I made this for a neighborhood party and everyone loved it! Couldn't be easier too.