Cheerios Cereal Bars for St. Patrick’s Day

These Cheerios Cereal Bars for St. Patrick’s Day only require 3 ingredients (plus the food coloring) and are ready in a snap! These are so easy and fun and kids love them!

Originally posted in March 2014 on my personal blog. Updated and moved over to Rose Bakes in March 2022.

We’re a big fan of rice cereal bars at my house, so I decided to change things up and do something really fun for the lucky March holiday! These cereal bars are so easy that kids can actually make them all by themselves.

You don’t have to bake anything or use the stove at all! I love recipes like this!

How do I know? Confession time… I didn’t actually make them. I was super busy working on some other projects, so I had my 16-year-old son whip them up and he did a great job!

He made them last night and it only took him a few minutes… and this morning – they’re all gone!

The last one was eaten up this morning when my 7-year-old when he asked if he could eat one for breakfast because “Mommy, it’s cereal, right?” So I let him! (Because he’s super cute and snaggle-toothed!)

I should note, these are made in the microwave, just like my Microwave Rice Krispies Treats. That means no burned butter or messy pot to clean up!

I got Joshua to make another pan this morning to take some pictures and when we were taking pics… my 3 year old also snatched one too – ha! They really like them a lot!

Cheerios Cereal Bars Ingredients

You only need a few very basic ingredients to make these fun marshmallow cereal treats:

• Butter – I use salted butter but unsalted would be fine too. If you have unsalted but want to add that touch of salty to the sweet – just add a pinch of salt to the melted marshmallows.
• Mini Marshmallows – you can use regular marshammlows but mini marshmallows melt easier and faster so I recommend those if you can get them!
• Cheerios (original yellow box) OR you can substitute MultiGrain Cheerios or Honey Nut Cheerios cereal if you like.
• Green Food Coloring – you can use gel based food coloring or water based; whatever you have on hand or is easiest to get your hands on!

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Americolor Leaf Green Gel

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Cheerios

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Mini Marshmallows

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How to Make Easy St. Patrick’s Day Cheerios Cereal Bars

1. Start by buttering a 9×13 inch dish. I like to just spray my dish with butter-flavored non-stick cooking spray!
2. In large microwavable bowl, melt the butter and marshmallows and stir until smooth. I like to microwave for a minute, stir and microwave for another minute. Stir in a few drops of green food coloring.
3. Immediately stir in the Cheerios until evenly coated. Pour the mixture into the 9×13 inch baking dish, then use the back of a buttered spoon or spatula to press them into a flat layer.
4. Let them cool then cut the Cheerio bars into squares to serve! I’m pretty sure they’d be Leprechaun approved 🍀🍀

How to store Easy Cheerios Cereal Treats

Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature to keep them from drying out and getting rock-hard. Refrigeration is not needed – that actually makes them really hard too!

Serving Suggestions

Serve these as a snack or dessert! You can also individually wrap them to hand out treats at school or church.

Things you can add in!

If you want to make your cereal treats a little extra special, here are a few things you can mix in!

• Vanilla Extract– a teaspoon will do – mix it into the melted butter/marshmallow mixture
• Mini Chocolate Chips – ½ to ¾ cup mixed in with the cereal
• Sprinkles – As soon as you press the cereal down into the dish and before it hardens, sprinkle 1/4 cup of rainbow sprinkles on top of your treats to make them pretty and even more festive.
• Peanut Butter – stir a half a cup into the melted marshmallow mixture before adding the cereal. NOTE: This is one of my go-to suggestions for cereal bars but please note, it may change the green color and make them .. not pretty 😉
• Lucky Charms Marshmallows – did you know you could buy these alone? You can! These would also be fun to mix in with the cereal (do not melt them – add them in after or press to the top).

More St. Patrick’s Day Desserts:

• St. Patrick’s Day Cake Pops
• St. Patrick’s Day Rainbow Cupcakes
• Easy Lime Popsicles
• Edible Gold Oreos (St. Patrick’s Day Coins!)
• St. Patrick’s Day Treat Bags
• Leprechaun Bait | St. Patrick’s Day Snack

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