Cinnamon and Spice Snack Mix
This Cinnamon and Spice Snack Mix recipe is just…well, it’s awesome. Honey pretzels, rice and corn cereal, loads of nuts, apple crisps, corn tortilla chips clad in a caramel coating that is flavored with cinnamon and spice. It’s everything nice; it’s a perfect sweet snacking treat…and it’s got a hint of heat.
When I moved from Nashville, I was determined to re-create a group of gals who would get together to play cards. For years, this group would gather at alternating houses for rounds of play, food and wine. I think the cards were always secondary to the food and wine; we always had some of the best snacks. One of the girls from that group introduced me to this snack mix and I’ve been making it for years now.
One of the very best things about making a snack mix like this at home is that it is infinitely modified to add all of your favorite things. In the past, I’ve thrown in cinnamon pita chips, cinnamon/raisin bagel crisps, plain pretzels, plain pita chips…well, you get the idea. Whatever you like is perfectly fine to add, just keep the same ratio of ingredients!
This time, I was in the local market looking for ingredients for it and I spied a big display of apple chips. They had Golden Delicious, Red Delicious and Granny Smith varieties, so I grabbed a bag of the Granny Smith chips. This may very well be the best addition yet!
The snack mix is coated with a mixture of butter, brown sugar, light corn syrup, cinnamon and…get this…chili powder and some cayenne pepper. The butter and sugars create a caramel coating and flavored with the cinnamon, chili powder and cayenne, you have an amazing combination of sweet with a hint of hot. Not too much hot, just a hint. And it really works! This snack mix has been a hit with everyone who has ever eaten it…really, it gets inhaled.
So, if you’re looking for a fabulous snack any time, or a last-minute addition to your Super Bowl snacking options, this is one you need to try. You may regret it…but in a good way.
P~
- 4 cups corn chips, broken into bite-sized pieces
- 3 cups honey pretzels, broken into bite-sized pieces
- 3 cups Crispix cereal (or your favorite corn/rice cereal combination)
- 3 cups apple chips (this was 1 -2.5 ounce bag)
- 2 -8 ounce cans nuts (I used one can mixed nuts, one can cashews)
- ½ cup butter (one stick, or 8 tablespoons)
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less to suit your tastes, but it really fades into the background)
- Preheat the oven to 250° F.
- Place corn chips, pretzels, cereal, apple chips and nuts into a large roasting pan.
- In a small sauce pan, add the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, chili powder, cinnamon and cayenne pepper.
- Bring to a boil.
- Pour the butter mixture over the contents of the roasting pan and stir to coat.
- Place the roasting pan into the preheated oven and bake for one hour, stirring the contents of the pan every 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and spread onto a large sheet of parchment paper (or waxed paper or foil...do not use brown paper or paper towel, or it will stick)
- Allow to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container.
I’ve always wanted to make a cool, super snackable Chex Mix. I think this may be the one!
This is a sweet version; I also have a spicy snack mix that is pretty killer. They are great for easy snacking and entertaining. P~
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