Today is National Cereal Day! What what!

Cereal is the preferred food group for most kids, and let’s be honest, it still holds up pretty well as an adult. I can put away a few bowls from time to time while watching My Little Ponies in my jammies… for dinner. (BFD is the BEST!). Today we are going over the rainbow and playing with some Lucky Charms in this AWESOME no-bake rainbow marshmallow pudding pie!

First off let me just give a huge kudos to General Mills, who last year made Lucky Charms gluten free. Not a gluten free version, but ALL Lucky Charms are gluten free, as they come. Pretty cool right? I do not have any sensitivities to gluten, but I have several friends that do so I am pretty conscious of what products are safe for them to eat.

These bars look straight up magical and are sooo yummy without being too sweet (surprising, I know!). It starts with a crushed Lucky Charms crust (say what!?), smooth white chocolate pudding in the middle (with sprinkles mixed in), topped with colorful mini marshmallows and then topped again with this amazing whipped vanilla mousse topping. Finished off with a generous handful of rainbow sprinkles.

Time out for just a minute to marvel over this magical, rainbow, AWESOME sprinkles mix.

Ooooh. Ahhhh. So pretty! ?

I just LOVE it! It looks ready to party! Confetti! It’s a parade! ?

Moving on…this pudding pie is super easy to make. The most tedious part about this recipe is sorting out the cereal from the marshmallows. But if you have children, then this is the perfect task to put them to work for them to help. Well, maybe not. It depends on how much you trust them not to eat all the marshmallows. 😉

I got about 2 cups of marshmallows to about 5 cups of cereal (what sort of crap ratio is that!?) and it took me less than one episode of MLP to sort them out. So let’s just say it doesn’t take too long, even if you have to do it yourself. It will take longer if YOU are the one eating marshmallows. Better make it 2 episodes, just to be safe.

I used JELL-O White Chocolate Instant Pudding, though you could really use any flavor, but I love the white chocolate because it is smooth and light and doesn’t detract from the flavor of the Lucky Charms. I really wanted the flavor of the cereal to shine through in this dessert and I think it does! Plus look how cool it looks with all those marshmallows on top!

Pro Tip: Put the marshmallows on top after you chill it, else they will get soggy and the colors will bleed out. You can arrange them in a pretty pattern or just dump them on top like I did. Marshmallow mountain!

You could honestly leave it like this and it would be tasty, but this whipped vanilla mousse topping takes it over the top!

This rainbow marshmallow pudding pie is cerealsly good! (hu-yuck!) Or as Lucky the Leprechaun says… “it’s magically delicious!” This colorful treat is perfect for St. Paddy’s Day, Easter, or a rainbow themed party! Whip up a plate anytime you are feeling like you need a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! ?

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No-Bake Rainbow Marshmallow Pudding Pie

By Heidi

March 7, 2017

• Categorized: Desserts

A colorful, sweet treat made with Lucky Charms cereal and white chocolate pudding topped with whipped vanilla mousse frosting.

• Prep Time: 20m
• Total Time: 1h 20m

Ingredients

Pudding Pie

• 2 1/2 c Lucky Charms cereal pieces (sorted without the marshmallows)
• 1/2 c butter, melted
• 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 2 pkg (3.4 oz) Jell-O White Chocolate Instant Pudding Mix
• 2 c cold milk
• 1/2 c colorful sprinkles (plus more for garnish)
• 2 c Lucky Charms mini marshmallows

Vanilla Mousse Topping

• 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 pkg (8oz) cool whip, thawed

Instructions

1. In a food processor (or with a ziplock baggie and a rolling pin) crush up the Lucky Charms cereal pieces into a fine sand-like texture. Add the melted butter and mix until incorporated and crumbs start to together (like a sand castle!). Press into the bottom of a pie dish or pan. I choose to use an 11x7 brownie pan but you could also use a 9x9 or 8x8 square pan. I lined it with tin foil so I could easily lift the pudding pie out of the pan. You could just as easily serve it out of the pan or pie plate.
2. Beat the cream cheese with 1/2 cup milk until smooth. Add remaining milk and pudding mix a little at a time, alternating between each. Beat slowly until just incorporated, about 1 minute (do not over beat). Carefully stir in 1/2 cup of rainbow sprinkles. I used regular jimmies. The sprinkles started to melt a little as I was stirring to make a rainbow swirl of colors (not sad about this)! Pour over cereal crust. Chill for an hour in the fridge.
3. In the meantime, make your whipped topping by beating the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together until smooth and creamy. Whisk in the Cool Whip. Chill for about 10 mins to give everything a chance to incorporate and firm up before using. If topping has been in the fridge for longer than 30 mins, let it sit out on the counter for about 10 mins to soften back up before trying to pipe it.
4. When ready to serve, remove pudding pie from fridge and top with mini marshmallows. Add a generous dollop of vanilla mousse topping and garnish excessively with sprinkles.

If there were ever a day for a good excuse to have cereal for any meal other than breakfast, then today is your day! What was your favorite cereal as a kid? I have to say for me it was a toss up between Lucky Charms and Captain Crunch (yes, even despite tearing up the roof of your mouth, I still loved that stuff). Oh, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch…OMG.

PIN this treat for later!