Lucky Charms Cereal Bars
If you’re a fan of Rice Krispie treats but want to switch things up a bit, try Lucky Charms treats! Soft, gooey, and so colorful, these cereal bars are as fun to eat as they are to make. Only 5 ingredients, 15 minutes from start to finish, and no oven required!
This is just a cute and simple recipe that I wanted to share before St. Patrick’s day, since it also serves as a subtle nod to the holiday (like my mint chocolate cookies!). I love this recipe in particular because it’s quick to make and feels so nostalgic. It would also make a perfect back to school snack!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Stays soft and chewy. While some cereal bars are prone to being stiff, dry, and stale, ours stay soft. The key to this is to not overcook the marshmallow and to gently press the cereal mixture into the pan. If you do it too firmly, your treats will be dense.
- Unlike most recipes, I use a splash of vanilla extract in my recipe. This adds an extra special touch and depth of flavor everyone loves!
- Can be made even more festive and fun with sprinkles or special edition cereals.
- Great for parties and making in advance! They stay fresh for up to five days and don’t need to be refrigerated.
What You Need
My recipe requires just four ingredients (five if you include the white chocolate drizzle!).
- Lucky Charms cereal. Obviously the classic cereal is the norm, but feel free to use the chocolate version or any other special edition cereals. Oh, and if you are making these treats for St. Patrick’s Day, the limited edition St. Patrick’s Day cereal would be adorable!
- Mini marshmallows. Use plain marshmallows (not the colored, fruity, or flavored kind). If you can only find normal sized marshmallows, they’ll work as well, they just take longer to melt.
- Butter. Make sure to use salted butter here to help balance out all the sweetness in these treats. This is a rare recipe where I prefer to use salted butter than add the salt, I just think it works best for distributing the flavor.
- Vanilla. This adds a nice depth of flavor.
- White chocolate. If you’d like, you can melt some white chocolate to drizzle over the top of your bars before cutting them. This is completely optional, but I like the extra flavor and decoration it adds!
This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Lucky Charms Treats
- Melt the butter over low heat.
- Stir in the marshmallows and vanilla until melted (do not crank up the temperature, this will make your cereal bars dry and crisp instead of soft and chewy!), then remove from heat.
- Add the cereal and stir to coat.
- Spread into a buttered 9×13″ pan, then gently press into the pan. Don’t be too firm with this step, or your bars will end up dense and tough.
- Let cool completely, then drizzle with white chocolate before (or after) cutting, if desired.
