Kansas City Chiefs Football Cereal Snack Mix Recipe
As the Kansas City Chiefs approached Super Bowl LVII, I knew I wanted to make a fun game day snack spread with a variety of eats in vibrant Chiefs colors. An easy, crowd-pleasing treat is this Football Cereal Snack Mix. I've obviously used red and yellow sprinkles and M&M's to rep my KC Chiefs. But you can easily swap out your favorite team's colors.
With just a few ingredients (many of which you may have on hand) you can mix up this tasty football-inspired cereal snack mix. It's a great recipe to make with kids. They can help measure the ingredients, decorate it with lots of colorful sprinkles, and stir in the M&M's.
Go Chiefs!
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How to make Football Cereal Snack Mix.
Assemble supplies and ingredients.
This Football Cereal Snack Mix is super easy to make, but I always like to get all my ingredients and supplies organized ahead of time.
For equipment, you will need:
large mixing bowl
spoon
cookie sheet
parchment paper
2-cup Pyrex microwave-safe measuring cup, or a microwave-safe bowl
glass container with lid or Ziploc freezer bag to store Cereal Mix
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
Measure the cereal (4 cups total), mini pretzels, and mini marshmallows.
If using Kansas City Chiefs colors, separate the red and yellow M&M's from a Share-a-Size bag.
Grab shakers of red and yellow sprinkles. I used what I had on hand which was red and yellow jimmies, and red and yellow sugar crystals.
Mix together cereal, pretzels and marshmallows.
In the large mixing bowl, gently combine the cereal, pretzels, and mini marshmallows.
For this batch of cereal snack mix I used 3 cups of Kelce's Krunch (like Frosted Flakes) and 1 cup of Corn Chex.
I used square mini pretzels but you can use mini traditionally-shaped pretzels, circles, or pretzel sticks.
Melt the vanilla coating.
Pour the Ghiradelli White Vanilla-Flavored Melting Wafers into the 2-cup Pyrex measuring up or into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 15 seconds at 50% power. Stir. Repeat heating in 15 second intervals, until thoroughly melted.
If you use almond bark or vanilla candy melts, follow the melting instructions on the package.
Combine melted vanilla coating with cereal mixture.
Pour melted candy coating into the bowl containing the cereal, pretzels, and marshmallows. Stir gently to combine.
Spread cereal mixture onto a cookie sheet and top with sprinkles.
Immediately spread the warm cereal mixture into an even layer on the parchment-covered cookie sheet. Sprinkle with red and yellow sprinkles. There is no need to measure - just add sprinkles until the cereal mixture looks sufficiently festive.
Allow to cool and harden for at least 30 minutes.
Break into pieces and mix with red and yellow M&M's.
When the cereal mixture has hardened, use your hands to break it into small chunks. Mix in red and yellow M&M's.
Store Football Cereal Snack Mix in a glass container with lid, or a Ziploc freezer bag for up to one week.
What type of cereal works best for NAME OF CEREAL MIX?
In this batch I used 3 cups of Kelce Crunch (similar to Frosted Flakes) and 1 cup of Corn Chex. Use a variety you like or one (or a mixture of two or more cereals) that you have on hand.
Cereals that work well are:
Corn Chex
Rice Chex
Frosted Flakes
Life Cereal
Cheerios
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Kix
Golden Grahams
Avoid cereals like granola or Raisin Bran, cereals with lots of colors, (Trix, Froot Loops, or Cocoa Puffs), or cereals with tiny pieces like Rice Krispies.
Generic versions of name-brand cereals work perfectly fine!
You’re not limited to just using white candy melts in this recipe. Use any color candy melt you choose!
Do I have to use Ghiradelli White Vanilla-Flavored Melting discs?
I used Ghiradelli brand White Vanilla-Flavored Melting discs because I had a bag in the pantry, they melt easily, and I like the flavor. You can substitute white almond bark or white candy melts, like Wilton or Sweet Tooth Fairy Meltables (Michael's store brand).
White-colored candy melts work best because you add Kansas City Chiefs colors with the yellow and red M&M's and sprinkles. (Or use your favorite team's colors.)
If you prefer, you can use any color of candy melt. You will see in the photo above that I made a small amount of KC Chiefs Football Cereal Snack Mix using yellow candy melts.
KC Chiefs Football Cereal Snack Mix was just part of the dessert portion of our “big game” spread!
How do I get just red and yellow (or other color combinations) of M&M's?
For basic colors (red, yellow, green, blue, orange, and brown) just purchase a 10.7 Sharing Size bag and pick out the colors you need. I did this for my Chief’s red and yellow M&M's.
You can purchase M&M's in single colors at one of their M&M World Stores (located in just a few cities), on M&M's official website, or in one-pound bulk packages at Party City, on Amazon, or at select other locations.
You are also not limited to just using M&M's brand candy. You can use an off-brand chocolate-coated candy, or other small candies in your team colors. Just avoid using a candy that is excessively hard or sticky.
RELATED: Love the KC Chiefs? Check out How to Get a FREE Kansas City Chiefs Apple Watch Face
Is Football Cereal Snack Mix healthy?
Sadly Football Cereal Snack Mix is not a healthy snack. It is high in carbohydrates and sugar.
This snack mix is best used as an occasional treat, like for game day gatherings.
In my KC Chiefs Game Day Party Snacks post you will see I served a variety of snacks, some healthy and some not-so-much.
Football Cereal Snack Mix featuring Kansas City Chiefs Colors
Ingredients
- 4 cups cereal (I used 3 cups Kelce Krunch and 1 cup Corn Chex)
- 1-1/3 cups mini marshmallows
- 1 cup mini pretzels
- 10-oz package Ghiradelli White Vanilla-Flavored Melting Wafers (or 10-oz white almond bark or 10-oz candy melts)
- 1/3 cup yellow M&M's
- 1/3 cup red M&M's
- Assorted red and yellow sprinkles (jimmies, nonpareils, or colored sugar)
Instructions
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. (I use Reynold's Pop-Up Parchment Sheets.)
- Mix cereal, mini marshmallows, and mini pretzels in a large bowl.
- Place the Ghiradelli White Vanilla-Flavored Melting Wafers into a glass microwave-safe Pyrex measuring cup, or a microwave-safe bowl. Heat at 50% power for 15 seconds. Stir thoroughly. If the wafers are not completely melted, microwave again at 50% power for 15 seconds. Stir and repeat until the candy is completely melted.
- Pour the melted candy over the cereal mixture and gently stir until coated.
- Immediately spread the candy-coated cereal mixture on the parchment-covered cookie sheet. Top with red and yellow sprinkles. There is no need to measure the sprinkles. Use as much or as little as you want!
- Allow candy-coated cereal mixture to cool and harden, about 30 minutes.
- Gently crack the candy-coated cereal into small chunks. Add red and yellow M&M's and toss gently.
- Store in a glass storage container, or Ziploc freezer bag for up to one week.
Notes
If you are using almond bark or another brand of candy melts, follow the directions on the package to melt the candy.
I hope you enjoyed this simple, colorful KC Chiefs Football Cereal Snack Mix. It’s not limited to just football colors, obviously. Use red and green M&M’s and sprinkles for a Christmas snack mix, red and pink M&M’s and sprinkles for Valentine’s Day, or orange M&M’s and sprinkles for Halloween.
Happy celebrating!
—Jacqui at Plan A Healthy Life