Homemade Chex Mix

We love Chex Mix in our house.  And as much as we love it from the bag, we love this homemade version even more so.  It's incredibly addicting.  Salty and buttery and tangy from the Worcestershire sauce.  Just you wait...once you make it, you won't be able to stop eating it!   

I have always done mine in the oven.  Yes, it takes longer (a lot longer) than the 5 or so minutes in the microwave, but this recipe is from a good friend's mom and that's how she made hers.  I'm not knocking the quicker way, I've just never tried it! 

My favorite pieces are the ones that get extra coated in the seasoning and are a bit chewy.  I also usually make it with just the cereal, but we have a ton of the mini twists pretzels in the house so I tossed them in as well.  You can also throw in nuts or bagel chips.  Just so you have about 12 cups of the whole mixture. 

Serves 12 

Homemade Chex Mix

1 1/2 sticks butter
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons seasoning salt
9 cups Chex cereal
3 cups pretzels

Preheat oven to 225 degrees and place the sticks of butter on an 11 x 18-inch baking sheet.  Place the pan into the oven until the butter melts.  Remove pan from oven and add Worcestershire sauce and seasoning salt to the melted butter.  Stir to combine.

Pour Chex cereal and pretzels on top of melted butter mixture and carefully stir to coat everything.  Put pan back into the oven for 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Pour finished Chex mix onto paper towels to drain.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce

Making homemade applesauce seems a bit daunting, right?  Wrong!  So easy!  And it will make your house smell absolutely heavenly. 

This recipe is adapted from the Pioneer Woman and I basically halved her recipe (it can be very easily doubled).  My husband loves Red Delicious apples, so that's what I usually buy and that's what I used.  We had 3 sitting around just waiting to go bad so that's all that I wrote the recipe for.  

The hardest (and most tedious) part is peeling and slicing the apples.  Then, everything goes into one pot, it stews for about 25 minutes and gets mashed up (or pureed).  Nothing to it!  

I used my potato masher, but at that point, the apples were so soft that a fork would have done the trick as well.  If you want a smoother consistency, just throw the cooked apples into your food processor and puree until you get the consistency you like.  Did I mention that while on the stove your house will smell so good??  Another added benefit to making this!

Serves 6

Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce

3 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 cup water
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot and cook over medium heat for about 25 minutes.  Use a potato masher or fork for a chunky consistency or a food processor to puree the applesauce.

Store in the fridge in an airtight container.

(Source:  Adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter and Raisin Granola Bars

Granola bars are absolutely one of my favorite snacks to make for the kids.  Between these and my Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars, I will never buy them from the store again!  Once you make these, I think you'll agree.

 These remind me so much of the Quaker granola bars - chewy and not all dry.  My kids gobble these up!  They were stalking me as I was taking the pictures...my two-year old right at my hip saying "want one" repeatedly.  Heck, I even scarfed down 2 or 3 of these after this shoot!  

I could have stopped at just adding the chocolate chips, but the raisins give it an extra chewiness that I just love.  This recipe is adapted from Averie Cooks and I'm sure you'll adapt it from my version to make these how you like (or maybe even depending on what's in your cupboard that day!).  You can use all honey or all corn syrup, use more crispy rice cereal and less oats, or even all oats and no cereal - so many possibilities. 

Makes about 15 bars

Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter and Raisin Granola Bars

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup light corn syrup 

1/3 cup honey  

1/4 brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups quick cooking oats

1 cup crispy rice cereal

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Line a 9 x 9-inch pan with foil, leaving an overhang.  Spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the peanut butter, corn syrup, honey and brown sugar and microwave on high for 1 minute.  Stir to combine everything.  Add the vanilla and salt and stir. 

Add the oats and cereal and carefully stir to coat.  Add the raisins and chocolate chips and stir again to combine.

Pour mixture into prepared pan and using your hands or spatula, press down to spread and form an even layer.  Place in freezer for at least an hour to allow bars to set.  Cut to desired shape.  Refrigerate for up to a week or freeze for up to 3 months.   

(Source:  Adapted from Averie Cooks)

Homemade Strawberry Fruit Strips

If you've scrolled down to the recipe already, you've probably noticed that these take like forever and a day to make.  I'm exaggerating, but truly, up to 16 hours in the oven for these bad boys.  Here's the thing though, they are pretty worth it.  And despite all that, so easy to make...despite the waiting!

 This was my first time making these and I did run into a couple of glitches.  Nothing major, but I'll share with you some of my suggestions to make these.  First of all, it really shrinks up as you bake them - you'll notice a drastic difference after the first 6-8 hours.     

I used my immersion blender to puree the fruit after it stewed with the lemon juice.  It has a cup and blade attachment that is like a mini food processor.  The mixture JUST fit, hence the spilling.  But, it worked!  You can use a blender, too or a regular food processor.

Transferring from one baking sheet to another was tricky.  Luckily, the only other pan I had was 11 x 18-inch, which helped because I was transferring from a smaller pan to a larger one.  I picked up the plastic wrap and then tried to turn it upside down onto the bigger pan.  Well, since the fruit wasn't quite set on the bottom side, it started to slide and I had to spread it out again in a few places.  Try quickly inverting the actual baking sheet onto the new one, then lift the pan up, then remove the top layer of plastic.  

I cut the strips into larger pieces to take the pictures, but then I only had like 8 pieces!  All I kept thinking was, all that waiting and this is all I get?  So, I cut them in 1/2 again and got 16...which made me feel better.  Next time I'll probably double the recipe so it yields a lot more.    

Makes 16 rectangle strips (1" x 2.5")

Homemade Strawberry Fruit Strips

2 cups of diced strawberries

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 150-175 degrees (on my oven, this is Warm).  In a sauce pan on medium, combine the strawberries and lemon juice and cover.  Stew until they are very soft and mushy, about 6-8 minutes.  Pour the stewed strawberries into a blender or food processor and puree.  

Cover a 9 x 13-inch baking sheet with plastic wrap and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Pour the puree onto the plastic wrap and spread evenly on the pan, to 1/8-1/4 inch thickness.  Place in oven for 6-8 hours.  

Right before taking it out of the oven, cover another baking sheet with plastic wrap and invert the fruit leather onto this pan.  Remove the top layer of plastic wrap.  Place back in the oven for another 6-8 hours.  If it becomes too brittle at any point, use a pastry brush to apply water to rehydrate it.  

Cool the fruit before cutting into desired strips.  Place in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap and store in a cool place.  

(Source:  Adapted from Georgia Pellegrini)

Salted Caramel Popcorn

We received a hot air popcorn maker for Christmas (from my lovely sister-in-law) and I've been so excited to try out new popcorn recipes.  She also gave us an awesome book that has a ton of great ideas, but I had this recipe saved on Pinterest for a while.  It's amazing!  The popcorn becomes chewy, not crunchy and it's addicting!  

This is the real deal caramel - using a candy thermometer (good thing I asked for one for Christmas!).  And it is very hot when you pour over the popcorn, so be careful.  After stirring, I poured it all out on a baking sheet covered with wax paper to help it cool.  

My children were sneaking pieces left and right as it cooled.  It's amazing!  I love the sweet and salty combination!  You can use a fine sea salt or a coarse Kosher salt (what I used). 

Makes about 10 cups

Salted Caramel Popcorn

1 cup of popcorn kernels, popped
2 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons coarse salt, divided
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Pop the kernels into a very large mixing bowl.  In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.  Once it reaches a boil, add sweetened condensed milk, then return to a boil and cook, stirring constantly until it reaches 236 - 238 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and 1 teaspoon of the salt.  Drizzle half of the caramel over the popcorn and stir to coat.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt over the popcorn and add the rest of the caramel.  Stir again until everything is evenly coated.  Allow to cool, then store in airtight containers.

(Source:  Adapted from Cooking Classy)