Magically Delicious Mini Popcorn Balls

Say hello to our new favorite St. Patrick’s Day tradition: making these almost-too-cute-to-eat treats with our kiddos and handing them out to lucky friends and family. This recipe makes about a dozen and comes together in just 30 minutes. Best of all, you likely have everything you need to get started right now!

What you’ll need:

• Sheet pan
• Parchment paper
• Large sauce pan or Dutch oven
• Large mixing bowl
• 1 cup Lucky Charms (marshmallows separated)
• 1 bag microwave popcorn (plain)
• 5 ounces mini marshmallows (roughly half a bag)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• Green food coloring
• Sprinkles, if desired

1.  Prepare popcorn according to directions. Pour into a large mixing bowl and remove any un-popped kernels. Add Lucky Charms cereal to the bowl (reserve the marshmallow pieces for later!) and set aside.

2. In a large sauce pan or Dutch oven, melt 1 ½ tablespoons butter, then stir in 2 tablespoons sugar and 5 ounces mini marshmallows (a little less than half the bag). Next, add food coloring to achieve your desired green, starting with a few drops then adding more if necessary.

3. Pour the cereal and popcorn mixture into the melted marshmallows and stir to combine. If you’re using sprinkles, now’s the time to add them, and remove from heat.

4. Allow the mixture to cool enough to handle, then stir in the Lucky Charms marshmallows (they’ll melt if you add them too early!). Next, roll the popcorn balls and place on parchment paper. 

Expert tips: 

• Adding a little butter to your hands will make rolling the popcorn balls much easier.
• If you’d like to make multiple colors of popcorn balls, halve the batch and repeat our   instructions twice.
• We used traditional green food coloring (the one in the tiny plastic droppers) and neon food coloring to get our varying shades of green; both are widely available at grocery stores.
• For even more green flare, add green pieces from your favorite cereals like Trix and Fruity Cheerios or candies like M&Ms.