Cinnamon-Sugar Chex Mix

A few months ago, all Chex cereals were heavily marked down at my local grocery store so I bought several of them.  Turns out, my kids don't love Chex when eaten as a cereal.  So, when I needed to make a treat to bring in to my son's classroom today I thought of making a Chex mix and I came up with the following recipe which turned out delicious!  And, it uses up some of our extensive Chex supply!

Cinnamon-Sugar Chex Mix

3 cups Rice Chex
3 cups Corn Chex
1 package microwave popcorn, popped
2-3 c mini pretzels or pretzel sticks
1 c white chocolate chips
(nuts - optional.  I didn't add any to this because one of my son's classmates has a peanut allergy)
1/2 c butter (one stick)
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon


Mix cinnamon & sugar together, set aside.  Melt butter in a small bowl.  In a large, microwave-safe bowl, mix both kinds of Chex, popcorn, pretzels, and white chocolate chips.  Stir to combine.  Drizzle with butter (all of it) and stir until it's evenly coated.  Microwave 1 minute; then stir.  The white chocolate chips will melt and help to coat the other ingredients and give it a nice layer of sweetness!  Microwave another minute.  Stir.  Sprinkle half the cinnamon/sugar mixture and stir it around; microwave 1 minute.  Sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon/sugar mixture and stir it around; microwave 1 minute.  Stir.  Microwave 1 minute.  Stir.  Microwave 1 minute.  Stir.  Spread out on waxed paper to cool; store in an air-tight container.  This will fill up a gallon-sized Ziploc bag.

Crunchy Caramel Corn

1 stick butter (1/2 c)
2 c brown sugar
1/2 c corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
3 bags microwave popcorn, popped (I use Orville Reddenbacher's 94% fat free)


Preheat oven to 250. (That's 250, not 350!) Put popped popcorn into a large turkey roaster or two large casserole dishes. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once completely melted, add brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Stirring constantly, cook over medium until mixture comes to a boil. Once boiling, stop stirring and allow it to continue to boil for four minutes.

Meanwhile, put the roaster or pans with the popcorn into the oven. Once the caramel mixture has boiled for four minutes, remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Remove roaster from the oven and drizzle caramel over the popcorn, stirring to coat.

Return roasing pan to the oven for 15 minutes. Take it out and stir it. Then back in the oven for 15 minutes. Take it out and stir it. Then back in the oven for a final 15 minutes (45 minutes total). After it has cooled for a few minutes, break it up into pieces and enjoy... or wait until it cools completely.

This is a yummy homemade version of Cracker Jack; we loved it!


(I got this recipe from allrecipes.com but made a few changes to it)