We’re officially in the twilight time zone of post-Christmas pre-NYE and I think we should have a snack about it.
My family makes a dang good snack table, holiday or no holiday. But one of my mom’s specialties (brisket and twice baked potato casserole not withstanding) is her Chex Mix. Truly, I never understood why other Chex Mixes tasted…not great. I eventually asked my mom what made the difference and was relieved to find a simple solution: more sauce.
I recently became addicted to a *gasp* storebought snack mix–Wicked Mix. It disappeared embarrassingly fast, so I set out to recreate the mix at home. My version isn’t quite the same (too cheap to buy all the add-ins, tbh) but hits the same notes: salty, spicy, and a bit sweet.
You can make this a few different ways, so it’s a choose your own adventure of sorts. Make a batch and do some porch drop-offs or keep it all to yourself–you do you.
Sweet & Spicy Chex Mix
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce OR a couple shakes chili powder See notes below!
For the mix:
- 8 cups Chex cereal or Crispix I used half Rice Chex half Corn Chex
- 2 cups honey roasted peanuts
- 2 cups pretzels
- 4 ½ ounces oyster crackers about half a bag
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 250. Line two large baking trays with parchment paper.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine all sauce ingredients. Really whisk it well! (See notes for spicy options!)
- In a large (seriously, huge) bowl combine the mix ingredients.
- Pour half of sauce over mix and stir well. Pour remaining sauce over mix and stir again, trying to move quickly to ensure everything's coated. Make sure to really get to the bottom of the bowl!
- Pour mix onto your prepared pans. Try to get an equal amount on each pan but don't stress about it.
- Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes and rotating the trays after 30 minutes.
- Let cool for like 5 minutes and inhale.
