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And it is Christmas Eve!!
Personally, I am just a tad sad.
My very favorite time of year if almost over and it seems like Thanksgiving was just yesterday. I think the month of December needs to be like a whole sixty days and not just thirty-one. Really, the Christmas holiday deserves a whole two months of celebration in my opinion.
So this is the last of my mom’s recipes.
She only has a handful of recipes, and I’ve already shared three. Maybe next year I will share possibly one of my very favorite things she makes. We only have it once a year and it is amazing. And yes, it is totally all about chocolate and a little booze too. What? Yep, booze in Christmas desserts are a must.
Right now though we are talkin’ Mom’s Secret Christmas Eve Chex Mix. In our family, this too, is only made on Christmas Eve. You walk in the house, take a deep breath and you know right away it’s Christmas Eve at the Gerard’s. It’s one of the best smells ever.
I have to say, it was really weird making this before Christmas. It felt totally wrong and I will probably never do it again. Chex mix is a Christmas Eve only thing around here, and you better bet I will be making another double batch today.
Just gotta have that smell and something to munch on all night.
So, Mom’s recipe is really not a secret, it is just smart.
Basically, she added more of the good stuff. You know, the stuff everybody always picks for. The pretzels, bagel chips and nuts. And then the most important thing she upped? The butter and seasonings. Yup, she is pretty smart.
Gotta have lots of butter on Christmas. Well, really just lots of everything good on Christmas!
Also, Mom has always baked her chex mix in the oven.
Seriously, do not try to make this in the microwave. Eww, that is just not good. Go for the oven.
Nothing is better than chex mix baking in the oven, the Christmas music + movies going and people just about everywhere! Mom and I in the kitchen, the brothers hanging around eating, the brother’s friend joining them and the cousins telling stories and just plain making thing so much better!
Mom’s Secret Christmas Eve Chex Mix.
Servings: 12 Cups
Calories Per Serving: 212 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 cups corn chex
- 3 cups rice chex
- 2 cups whole wheat chex
- 2 cups mixed nuts
- 2 cups bite-size pretzels
- 2 cups garlic-flavor bite-size bagel chips or regular bagel chips
- 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) salted butter, melted
- 4 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons seasoned salt
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.2. In large bowl, mix the chex cereals, mixed nuts, pretzels and bagel chips. Set aside.3. Melt the butter in a bowl and mix in the worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, garlic powder, onion powder and a good pinch of pepper. Pour the butter over the cereal mixture, tossing well for 3-5 minutes or until the cereal mixture is evenly coated.4. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool, about 15 minutes (or just start eating!!). Store in airtight container.
Merry Christmas Eve!! It is my favorite night of the year!! 🙂
Oh, and I almost forgot to announce the winner of the KitchenAid Mixer Giveaway. First, can I just say I was BLOWN AWAY by the incredible comments you guys left. WOW! Pretty much every comment was not about a gift for you, it was about making your family happy, healthy and together for the holidays. I read every single comment and really, you guys that is what Christmas is about. Family, happiness and being together. I am simply in awe of all of you! Ok and the winner is Kortnie Madison-King! Congrats!! Shoot me an email as soon as possible (like by Thursday night)!
This post was originally published on December 24, 2013
Horrible recipe!!! DO NOT USE 2 STICKS OF BUTTER FOR CHEX MIX! Melt the butter & drink it instead!
Seriously, most recipes call for 6 tablespoons of butter. Try another one!
So adjust the recipe to suit your needs. Geez calling it horrible is uncalled for.
Hi, so sorry you did not enjoy this. I hope you enjoy other recipes, though! Thanks for trying it!
Great recipe!!!~~~not crazy about pretzels tho so left them out. Used lots of thick garlic toast from the deli section broken up and added some honey nut chex. Made batches of it and gave away at Christmas. My shopping cart was full. Fun day at mom’s. Wasn’t quite sure about the amount of butter but used all of it in recipe and it was super great!! Honey nut chex was a nice addition. I loved the sweet crunchy taste.
Thanks Cindy! Leaving the pretzels out is no biggie! Sounds like an amazing day! Couldn’t be happier that you liked it!
Great recipe. I have to tell you, I have used the microwave for the last few years and it is so much faster and easier; and absolutely no sacrifice in quality! Everybody loves it!
SO good to know! Thanks!
If you double the recipe, does your cooking time increase?
No, but you will need to use 3-4 pans. It is important not to over crowd the pans. Let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this and Merry Christmas!
I tripled the recipe, baked it all in one pan (I used my big silver roasting pan) and let it cool in the same pan. It worked out perfect. I ended up making a 2nd batch because people loved it so much.
The cereal combo I used was shreddies, cheerios and chex. Tasted great !!!
SO happy that you liked it! Thanks Anj!
Mine came out burnt, unfortunately, but I’m going to try again and just cook either on a lower temp or less time because, otherwise, it came out great!
So sorry it burned! Hopefully it works better next time!
So much of that butter was wasted….. when I got the chexmix out to cool it was just left in the bottoms of the pans. Half would have been sufficient. That being said, I added a few things not listed here and i was a hit…I just need to buy another stick of butter to make more 😐
So sorry it was too much butter ): Hope you still enjoyed!!
Great recipe that I’ve made for years with one addition…Cheerios. ,
Cheerios sound delicious!!
Frustrated with this recipe…used less butter, (because I don’t want soggy chex mix) and your temperature for baking? Way off! I had to stir mine after 5 minutes of baking and it was already burning! I’ve turned down my oven now to 200°, but I think this batch is too late to fix. Wasted food & money ?
I was frustrated too. I even added some buffalo wing sauce and it was still bland and flavorless. If I make it again I will use less butter and double the seasonings.
Sorry you did not like this.
Hey Lynette, I am really sorry this recipe is not for you. My family truly loves it, but again. I am sorry it did not work out for you.
Lynette, you may be leaving out the most crucial step in this process. COOLING on a blanket of paper towels! The chex retain their heat, and any left over moisture evaporates, the flavor dries to the Chex, and Voila!! I did however lower the about of butter I used to 2 sticks, increased my worcester by 1-2 TBLS (because I love it) and rounded the seasonings up to whole numbers just to remember it easier!
In my opinion the point of looking for recipes like this is to try them and use them as a base for your own taste. I made this once exactly as instructed, then the second time I tweaked it a little bit and made it my own.
The original post is a great platform. Having said all that, this is the perfect foundation for ANY chex mix, what you do with it from here is ALLLLLL up to you and your tastebuds!!
Thanks for everything you said here Kevin! All sounds great to me!!
We also put Cheerios in our mix. Great stuff!
Sounds delish!!
Making Christmas gifts ,putting into containers with a bow.I give these to my neighbors and my mailman.Already wrote down ingredients for grocery tomorrow.
Thanks somuch and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
11-30-16.
That is so thoughtful of you to do! I may just have to start that!! Thank you Salley!
Nossa que prato diferente, adorei, vou fazer no Natal.
did you ever post the chocolate alcohol recipe of your mom’s that she makes once a year?!!?!
HI Margaret! I am sorry, I have not posted that. Maybe later this month, but I might hold onto her recipe for a bit. If you want to email me I can send it to you!
Hope your home is filled with love and Jesus this Holiday Season!
Thanks!! Hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving!
My uncle used to make Chex mix every year during the holidays so when I saw a packet of “Free, take one!” seasoning mix at the grocery store, I grabbed it! It’s in the oven right now and I knew before even putting it in there that it wasn’t going to be what I remembered. So off to the interwebz I went and found your recipe. Guess what’s going on the oven next?!? I knew that packet recipe didn’t have enough butter… or seasoning! Thank you for posting (3 years ago!) and Happy Thanksgiving!!
YES!! Such an old recipe!! But still one of my favorites!! So happy you liked it!!
I am SO glad I found this recipe! I went searching and the one on the Chex site said mix in the microwave and all I could think was ‘If I did that my grandmother would roll in her grave’! I get that all these companies think we want “quick-n-easy”…..but the holidays are NOT about that! The time it takes to make this is what makes it so good!! I cannot wait to share this with my 3 sons, it will be to first time they’ve had it and I hope to make it a tradition of ours, like it was for me when I was young! Thank you!!!!
Hi Kevin!! SO happy you made this Chex mix!! Its seriously my family’s favorite too!! So happy you loved it and I hope your kids do too!! Thanks so much!!