Annual Batch of Christmas Chex Mix

It has been called Christmas Crack before. People go crazy for it. I go crazy for it. My sis and I made it one year to give as Christmas gifts. In the process, we ate probably half of it and had to make another batch, so we actually had enough to give away. It is purely addicting and I can vouch for that from personal experience.

This time around I made it sans sister, which just isn't the same, but the result was just as good. I don't know why I had not posted this amazing and staple recipe in my life until now, but better late then never! The original recipe came from Nestle Tollhouse Swirl Morsels. They no longer make these, which is quite sad, but Christmas M&M's are a good stand in. 

 

Here's the recipe for our:

Caramel Popcorn Chex Mix

Ingredients:

- 9 cups toasted corn cereal
- 4 cups popped popcorn
- 1 1/2 cups slivered almonds
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter or 1/2 cup margarine
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 (10 ounce) package of morsels of some sort (If you go back in time to 2008, you can use the pretty Nestle Swirl Morsels)
- 1 (6 ounce) package dried sweetened cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the over to 250°F

2. Grease a large roasting pan.

3. Mix cereal, popped popcorn and nuts in roasting pan.
4. In a medium saucepan combine brown sugar, butter and corn syrup.

5. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.

6. Boil, without stirring, for 5 minutes.

7. Remove from heat and immediately stir in vanilla extract and baking soda.

8. Pour evenly over cereal mixture; stir to coat evenly.

9. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

10. Cool completely. Then stir in morsels and cranberries.