St. Patrick’s Day Snacking #weekendcooking @BethFishReads

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For a coffee hour at the library today, we offered St. Patrick’s Day-themed refreshments, featuring, of course, a big plate of Irish soda bread with butter on the side.

Since someone else was baking the Irish soda bread, I brought something sweet that I thought would appeal to any kids who were dragged along came to the event with their parents – Pot O’ Gold Chex Mix.

Done in the microwave, the Pot O’Gold Chex Mix came out sweet and crunchy. Following the advice of commenters on the Betty Crocker site where I found the recipe, I separated out the marshmallow “charms” and added them in at the end with the M&Ms. I’m going to experiment with a gluten-free version of this recipe. The butter and brown sugar mixture is naturally gluten-free, and so are Corn Chex and peanuts. Lucky Charms come close, but are not certified gluten-free, so I would substitute gluten-free Rice Chex and mini-marshmallows for the Lucky Charms.

These mini chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting were gluten-free, but I didn’t tell anyone, and I don’t think anyone knew the difference. The only thing I noticed was that the paper cupcake holders came away from the cupcakes.

For those who wanted a more healthful snack, there were green fruit cups.

I’m all about the sweets, but hubby is making the boiled dinner and picked up the Guinness for tonight and tomorrow.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!