My mother is an incredibly generous cook. When I was growing up, I swear at least once a week she made her signature Tollhouse Cookies to give away. At Christmastime, our kitchen became a veritable cookie factory. These days, she lives 3,000 miles away. But when she flies in, she always arrives with a batch of much-beloved Chex Mix. So when I was contemplating food gifts for teachers, coaches and friends one year, Chex Mix sprang to mind. Below is my own recipe, with a few more nuts than the original recipe calls for, a little more butter and some new seasonings. Hope you enjoy it — and that it inspires you to give away your kitchen creations. Now, more than ever, I think people enjoy home-cooked meals, snacks and treats.
Makes 24 servings.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Corn Chex
- 3 cups Rice Chex
- 2 cups Whole Wheat Chex
- 2 cups mixed nuts
- 1 cup bite-size pretzels
- 1 cup Cheerios or sesame sticks
- 1 1/2 sticks (12 Tbsp.) salted butter, melted
- 3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground paprika
- 3/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- a few turns of freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- In a large bowl, mix the cereals, nuts, pretzels and Cheerios or sesame sticks. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan on the stovetop. Then mix in the Worcestershire sauce and other seasonings. Pour the butter mixture over the cereal mixture. Stir together until all is well-coated.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper atop 2-3 cookie sheets. Spread Chex mix evenly over the cookie sheets, making sure it’s not too crowded to crisp nicely. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheets. Then pour into an airtight container.