My focus seems to be on snacks lately. My pantry and fridge are full but nothing is grabbing my attention. Chex Mix to the day. I love snagging a bag of Chex Mix at the grocery store and gobbling it down while watching a show with Rob. The kids come home from school ravenous and are instantly digging through the pantry for a snack. Since Halloween was around the corner they instantly ask for candy. I’m not a mean mom but I really hate saying ok to candy. BUT I’m ok with making my own candy and letting them eat that.
Candy Bar Chex Mix is the creature that come from that wacky thought process.
With $50 in hand, a list of ingredients a 1/2 page long and 4-5 recipe ideas in my head I went to the store to load up on Chex cereal varieties and all kinds of “toppings”. Then once dinner was done and cleaned up Shae and I made dessert, Candy Bar Chex Mix. Making any kind of Chex Mix usually requires very little to no cooking. For some mix-ups you’ll want some kind of liquid to coat the cereal and ingredients. For this particular recipe a caramel was made. Since making caramel can get really hot I did that part on my on.
Shae measured out and put all the dry ingredients in the bowl. I showed her 1/4 and 1/2 on the measuring cup so she could do it all by herself. Mixing in the caramel was my job.
Ingredients
4 cups Chocolate Chex
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
pinch salt (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup lightly salted peanuts
Directions
In a large mixing bowl add in cereal, chocolate chips and marshmallows, stir to combine and set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat melt down butter and brown sugar. Bring to a boil for couple minutes till it reaches 220°. Having a candy thermometer comes in handy but the mixture should have a foamy bubbly look and getting darker in color.
Remove from heat, add salt, vanilla and peanuts and stir.
Using a rubber spatula stir the cereal mixture as you pour the caramel on top. Stir and stir until everything is coated. Some of the marshmallows and chocolate chips will melt, that is OK.
Once everything is combined pour this mixture out onto a sheet of foil or parchment that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Let it cool down.
Enjoy slightly warm and messy or package up into treat bags to pop into the kids lunch bag or to give to the kids.
Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.
Come join me and my co-hosts, Sarah of Play to Learn with Sarah Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.
- preparing healthy snacks
- having a tea party
- counting skills with m&ms
- pouring from measuring cups
- discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
- creating new family friendly recipes
Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.
