A few days ago the idea for Peanut Brittle Chex Mix popped into my mind and wouldn’t let go. I love peanut brittle, but it can be hard to eat sometimes. And I love Chex mix of all kinds. Combining these two snack treats seemed the best of both worlds.
If you’re looking for a snack to share with family and friends over Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s, this is the one! We cannot stay out of it. It’s that good!
You know how you can get started with a project that you thought was such a great idea, but then in the middle you really being to wonder? That’s what happened with this recipe. I nearly threw it all in the trash as a big flop, but I’m so glad I didn’t! Here’s how it all came together.
The first thing I did was search for a peanut brittle recipe. I found this one on Betty Crocker. I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to stir the Chex cereal into the hot brittle. I contemplated making toffee instead of the brittle recipe, but decided to go for it.
I made the peanut brittle according to the recipe, then tried to stir the peanuts and cereal into it. Not easy! It also wasn’t possible to spread it into one layer on the cookie sheet. Instead it just clumped together.
You can see in the photo above that the brittle started to harden right away. Strands of sugar formed and pulled thin, scattered web like around the clumps. It was at this point that I really thought I’d wasted the ingredients. We nibbled on it while it was still warm and although it tasted good, it wasn’t great.
But a few hours later, my son came in from work and started pulling off bites. He made me come into the kitchen to taste it again when I explained that it was a flop. “Mom, this is not a flop. This stuff is good!” He was right. It tasted much better than it had earlier.
The next morning I found him in the kitchen eating more of it. He declared it even better than the night before and he was right again. I put it all in a ziplock bag and broke it up with the end of a butter knife, creating small clusters of peanuts, Chex cereal and brittle candy.
It still isn’t beautiful, but it’s so good that we can’t stay out of it. It has all the flavor of peanut brittle, but with an extra crunch from the Chex that makes it easier to eat.
Success!
Like so many things in life, if you only look at the middle of the process it looks like a failure. To get to the goal, to make it succeed, you have to keep working with it, give it time and refuse to quit. I have a project right now that feels like I’m lost in the messy, sticky clumped up ball of ingredients. It’s hard to see a way out to the end product, but I’m sticking with it. I bet you have a project like that going on right now too. Don’t give up!
Here’s what you’ll need to make Peanut Brittle Chex Mix:
Peanut Brittle Chex Mix
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. water
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup corn syrup
- 3 Tbs. butter
- 16 oz lightly salted dry roasted peanuts
- 4 cups rice chex cereal
Instructions
- Stir baking soda, water and vanilla together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Butter two cookie sheets and a large metal or other heat proof bowl. Place these items in the oven at 200 degrees to keep them warm.
- Combine sugar, water and corn syrup in a 3 quart sauce pan. Place a candy thermometer in the pan. Cook over medium heat until the temperature reaches 240 degrees on the thermometer.
- Remove the pans and bowl from the oven. Pour chex and peanuts into the bowl.
- Stir the butter into the candy when it reaches 240 degrees and continue to cook, stirring constantly until the temperature reaches 300 degrees.
- Remove candy from heat and stir in the baking soda mixture. At this point the candy will foam.
- Pour candy over the cereal and peanuts, stirring to try to coat everything with the candy. Work quickly and pour it all onto the warm cookie sheets. Press it out as best you can onto the pans.
- Allow to cool completely.
- Place in plastic zip bags and break by hitting with a butter knife.
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