I'm with you! I love the original ChexMix. I bet I could make some GF too.

I make a more or less traditional Chex mix every holiday season. By "more or less" I mean the traditional seasonings and long slow baking......but the add ins can change depending on what sounds good. I have done GF versions for my family but I prefer a mixed bag :-) This year's version included the 3 standard Chex cereals, oyster crackers, Cheese-its and pretzel style goldfish. I omit any nuts, as too many have nut allergies and my aged teeth do not like large nuts anyway :-)

Previous versions have included Cheerios (GF), Bugles, GF pretzel sticks, pepitas and bagel or pita chips. And Crispix instead of some of the Chex cereals. Every year tends to be just a little different :-)

Never tried any of the sweet versions.....I much prefer the savory.

Savory here as well. I just ordered pretzel fish and cheedar---not sure about cheedar but who cares. We are seven fishes+ all through the holidays. And just had a delivery of 6 bags of Westminster oyster crackers for holiday fish chowders. Not a family tradition but will be loved me thinks in my chex mix.

Never have understood the commercial bags all seasons--too salty and not at all like our holiday mixes.

I saw some yesterday with marshmallows and chocolate. The marshmallows would have to be a little on the stale side . . . probably had some kind of brown sugar coating on the wheat chex.

I like the traditional but it is too salty for me to indulge much in.

It's a fine enough appetizer for a party though, since one would not necessarily eat a lot then, and you can find low salt pretzels and worcestershire sauce . . .

My late Mother used to make it and put it in a huge brandy snifter with a lid out on our coffee table in the living room. I wonder what happened to that . . . was not a very good situation, because we kept eating it and eating it, not healthy or cost effective to have to try and keep your kids out of a snack bowl sitting out on a coffee table! But it sure made from some wonderful memories!

I can't imagine making it now unless I planned on doing a bit of large scale entertaining. Sure miss that! But the big ol' brandy snifter's days are over, sanitation-wise. I think it was left over from Mom getting a terrarium once when she was in the hospital. It would be fine for that if you had the right spot . . .

I always added more Worcestershire than called for in the classic recipe, and I like to use Brazil nuts cut into chunks instead of peanuts. Tiny cheddar crackers like Goldfish or Annie's Bunnies are really good too.

I have a couple of recipes for differently flavored mixes using the same technique, one calls for mustard, and I have a couple from Martha Stewart as well - one uses Old Bay seasoning and Tabasco, and the other maple syrup & cayenne pepper.

https://www.marthastewart.com/8195959/nuts-and-snack-mixes

I have not made any of those in years, and now I'm wanting some 😃

ROTFLOL!!!! I don't know if you meant it that way, but I love the image of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish as one of the Seven Fishes. :D

I loved those as a kid. I only remember having Chex mix a couple of times, and not "getting" it. We liked Chex out of the box, and I didn't think the butter improved either the Chex or pretzels. But as far as making it goes, perhaps your mom thought the spices, without all the butter, would be gritty. I don't know that infusing spices was that common back when. I wonder if heart healthy would work with oil? That would probably throw the texture off, too, huh?

Just thinking about what I'd try, I'm thinking pistachios, cayenne, pepitas, maybe even roasted garlic... Though, in the end, I might leave out the cereal. ;) But I could see something like it made out of goldfish!

Growing up (maybe a million years ago now), my mom always called this "scrabble" and you can still find similar recipes under that title. As far as being "heart healthy". that is not an overriding concern for me for something that I only fix once a year :-) I don't really care if it is healthy or not - it is the savory and salty taste and the crunchiness that I am after!! I'll worry about healthy eating after the holidays!!

btw, I also include some cayenne or a couple of dashes of Tabasco in the mix to heat things up just a tad.

I used to make double batches of this when my stepsons were growing up. Teenage boys can really pack this away!!

I quite like the original homemade recipe, although I've never made it. I bought a bag of the commercially made one and it was so salty as to be inedible.

I like mine with the rye crisps ... get a small loaf and pop in the oven ... that, and goldfish and oyster crackers sounds good ... with plenty of wooster ^_^

My mom and one of my sisters always make homemade chex mix this time if year. I always pilfer some. The only objection I have to my moms is the cheerios. They are worthless in it. And I do not care for the nuts but I just pick them out. She usually puts in the 2 kinds of chex, crispix cereal, cheez its, pretzels, and then the cheerios and mixed nuts. I do not know what other things she puts in the sauce to coat it but I know that butter and Worcheshire sauce are the key ingredients. Probably onion or garlic powder too. I have never tried to make it so I never asked.

The commercially made stuff has NO flavor except salt. Its like eating salted cardboard. I wait for the good stuff at the holidays.

I make a couple batches of scrabble every holiday season. Aldi brand corn and rice chex, mixed nuts, mini pretzels, bagel bites, veggie straws, butter, worcestershire sauce, Lawrys, onion and garlic powder

'Scrabble' is an interesrting name for it. I just google 'imaged' holliday party mix. Nuts how many variations since the original in the 70's.

As a young one and siblings, we shuffled and sought out our favorites in the mix. Pretzels never took on much flavor...avoided. We all shuffled through and looked for the crispy savory bits.

Who knows what i'll be making...

My inclusions are organic this-n-that. 🙄

Traditional-ish.

"Chex Mix" is on our must have list of Christmas snacking. Savory all the way. I have never understood the point of wheat or rice chex so I swap out more corn and call it good. The pretzel absorption dilemma is fixed by buying pretzels that already have been infused with garlic/pepper/flavoring of your choice. This year I used bugles for an added element with the Corn Chex, and actually was able to find bagel chips to add too. Mixed nuts are a must, you can add the already flavored pretzels when you add the nuts at the end of microwaving. My mom always had her crystal ice bucket filled with Chex Mix in the china cabinet. There is a recipe out there for Nuts and Bolts and I think that is where the cheerio and gold fish additions come from. The versatility of crackery bites one can add or swap is what makes this recipe have it's staying power I would guess!!

LOL! The point of the three flavors of Chex is that you have to buy three boxes of cereal!

I used to make this for my mother when I would visit for Christmas, and I would use the three flavors of Chex, or else omit the wheat flavor. I also added nuts, mini pretzels (which looked like mini waffles), and garlic bagel chips, Worcestershire sauce, butter, garlic powder, and onion powder. I generally omitted salt, as the nuts had enough salt. My mother would pick out the nuts and just eat those, and so I would have to make it with extra nuts. She would, however, eat the cereal part after there were no nuts left.

Since I prefer organics, this is what I use:

Those look good - where do you buy them?

I searched for Nature's Path Heritage Bites and found that they have been discontinued, but evaporated cane juice is the third ingredient listed 😞. I searched for Cascadian Farm Multi Grain Squares and discovered that they have sugar added, which I do not want 😞. I definitely do not want sweet cereal in a Chex Mix. I always read ingredients on cereal packages and avoid ones that have sugar or salt.

I always omit the wheat chex as I much prefer the rice and corn chex. The veggie straws that I've been including for the last few years really suck up the sauce mixture and are one of the highlights of the mix.

Maybe that extra bit of sweetness is why I like those for snack mixes. I realise they don't fit with your new dietary requirements, Lars.

TBH, I haven't made snack mix in so long because I WILL eat all of it, given the opportunity, and it's not great for my health or waistline...

I have an issue with added sugars as well. The only breakfast cereal type meals are my homemade granola. Even then it is a heapng tBsp with plain greek yogurt and some blueberries. No sugar added. In a tiny 1/2 pint ball jar. Or a single egg...not a big breakfast person.

I went a bit overboard this year. Too many choices. I'll do a small batch test tonight. Planning on making two batches...1/3rd small batch Asian wasabi. One Niece and sister will love it. Dad not so much and i will warn him. 😂 same Dad that snack on my dog treats every year...on the counter in a small lided glass pyrex. (meant for visitors to offer the pups a small cracker treat to break the ice). .."Please offer them a tiny pup cracker to calm them..." Friend for life offering a treat to pups.

Every year Pop says, "not bad but they could use some salt", 🙄

I'm busy prepping and freezing a few appetizers but have the goods for testing party mixes.

Even the basic recipe seems to be consumed since family members have a favorite hand 'blend'.

I've got a 😁 thinking of your dad eating dog biscuits.

We've always had the mix on hand growing up. Always a favourite, nothing sweet in it though.

LOL sleevendog, at least your Dad got the dog treats. Recently Elery was eating some snack or another and got a cat treat. He said it was disgusting, and I don't think salt would have changed his mind. (grin)

I make the traditional Chex Mix every year, then I make a second batch, gluten free, for Amanda. I never use the wheat chex because no one likes them. I do like the rye crackers in mine and lots of peanuts, although others would prefer fewer peanuts and more of the other kind. We make "puppy chow" too, although now it's called Muddy Buddies, so we go both sweet and savory.

Annie

I think this years batch came out really good. Good thing i did a small test batch as it burnt rather quickly. Tasty but not gift-worthy. I made a tray of nuts and seeds and used spiced egg whites blendered in a glass using my stick blender. The egg whites help bind the smaller seeds to the larger nuts---sesame. pepita, flax, and sunflower seeds.

Using the rest of the ingredients this morning for a low-and-slow blend---lower oven temp.

To be fair, though still funny, the dog treats look just like soup crackers.

So good once resting overnight in the fridge. I did put the two trays on a low and slow oven--150ºF for a couple hours during the dinner meal last night. Nice and crispy today.

I'll mix in todays 'blonde pale' batch to this one. (a bit spicy-oops).

I've made about two gallons and needing to hide it from the vultures. Monday, boxing day, it is out for pigging. A light dinner meal so pig-out vultures. I'm already sick of it with all the testing/tasting.

The roasted nut recipe i used. No sugar. Cereals have sugars even the organic ones. I just added more seeds to the pecans and pepitas. Spiced pecans and Pepitas recipe.

My last tray. Using up the rest of the cereals. Good grief, 😂, what a process. Actually easy but i've not made this for years...maybe 2018?. Like mine better than the original Mom made. Well, duh...she started making it with 1 tBsp butter and a hint/breath of worcestershire.

Anywho, i've been enjoying going 'off script' a bit. Still traditional flavors but a twist with what i'm finding in crisp crackers, etc.

My low and slow blonde batch i'll toss with the darker batch...

I managed to make some glutenfree/dairyfree mix that seemed to go over well, and no one seemed to miss the butter. I did add the veggie stix - as suggested by LoneJack. No one commented on that, but I noticed that they were eaten right along witht he rest.