As with most of the smaller holidays, when I think about St. Patrick's Day I much prefer the childhood version to the adult version (similar to my views on Halloween and Valentine's Day). I'll take wearing green, jokingly pinch people, and sprinkling shamrock confetti over a drunken parade and green beer any day! So, in the spirit of a light-hearted St. Patty's celebration, I whipped up a batch of green cupcakes topped with Lucky Charms: Luck O' The Irish cupcakes!
To add the first dose of green to the the cupcakes, I sprinkled the batter (plain white cake mix from a box!) with two colors of green jimmies. When they bake into the cupcakes, they come out like leprechaun-inspired Funfetti.
See? I loved the unexpected pops of green on the inside. And the lighter green didn't show up as well, so you could certainly use one color of green if that's all you can find. I made up a batch of my new favorite frosting, swiss meringue buttercream, because it's not too sweet. But all these really need is a vanilla frosting base + green food coloring, and you're ready for the "lucky" part.
Lucky Charms! They're crunchy & sweet, so they add a fun texture to the cupcakes. Plus, have you ever met a person who doesn't like Lucky Charms? Initially, I just used the colorful marshmallows. But after a taste test, my taste tester agreed that a little bit of the cereal pieces added a nice flavor.
And there you have it! Luck O' The Irish cupcakes. I'm pretty sure if you're holding one (or a box) of these, you can't be pinched :)
