What are some of your favorite things about the holiday season? Baking? Wrapping? Shopping? Me, I make buckets and buckets of homemade Chex mix, usually with the holiday music blasting.
But the gauntlet of festivities between Thanksgiving and Christmas isn’t all sugar plums and smiling reindeer, is it? My yoga teacher shared this story:
Her sister calls her one day to grumble, “I was up all night making the (expletive) Christmas cookies!” My yoga teacher, an easy-breezy spirit who seems to enjoy life, simply said, “Don’t send me any. I don’t want your angry cookies.” To her, that was the opposite of the Christmas spirit, and she urged her sister to stop making cookies if she didn’t enjoy it.
Amen to that! Embrace the joy, not the aggravation. Dress like an elf, if that helps 
Certainly, like most, I prefer joy. I like to smile, to be happy. And so I try to enjoy the preparations of Christmas. It’s not hard to do, especially when I hear the excitement of my kids as they wrap the presents they have chosen for each other, or the cheery manner in which friends greet each other all over town. It’s contagious, this joy thing.
Sure, getting to The Big Day can be a bit of a chore. The to-do list is long, and the days are short. But, I find infusing some of my favorite things about Christmas into the every day keeps my head in the right place.
A few of my favorite things (aside from Chex mix, obviously) …
…reading The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus with my kids, an ancient but well-told story of a young orphan, Nicholas, and how the traditions of “Santa Claus” came about.
…watching holiday movies, like Elf, White Christmas, Love, Actually, and The Santa Claus;
…listening to my favorite albums, like The Carpenters Christmas Portrait;
…doing the holiday prep with my kids – Peace, Love, and Joy.
…and, yes, making old-fashioned Chex Mix. I love doing this every year.
The Homemade Chex Mix Tradition
My mom and godmother used to make Chex mix together when I was a kid. It’s been a part of my life since the beginning of my memories. I started my own operation once I had my own place, and have been gifting homemade Chex mix ever since. Everyone seems to love it, and some even return their jars to me hoping it secures them a refill for the following year (of course it does!)
It’s quite the operation, having grown grander in scale with each passing year.
There are the ingredients…
Jars upon jars upon jars…
Enormous vats of Chex Mix…
…and the final step, all packaging it all up prettily.
Delivering it is the final phase, a task with which the whole family gets involved. Who gets the Chex Mix? The better question would be who doesn’t? It goes to teachers, co-workers, friends, family, my hair stylist, the hard-working UPS guy, the owners of my gym, my fave spin instructor, and of course I have to set aside some for us because we all love this annual treat. Why don’t I make it at other times of the year? I think I don’t want to ruin the specialness of it, I guess (and in these quantities, it is a bit of work).
Anyhow, here I’m sharing my personal recipe for homemade Chex Mix, addicting and delicious beyond reason (in my humble opinion). Of all my published recipes, for sure this Chex mix has been tested and re-tested more than any other. We’re talking 25+ years of perfecting this perennial treat.
This is definitely a jar full of joy 
For I love homemade Chex mix as well as the entire process!
Originially posted in 2011. Photos and content updated 2019. Recipe remains unchanged since 1971 🙂
Homemade Chex Mix
Savory homemade Chex mix is the perfect treat for munching, for lunch-packing, and for large gatherings. Packaged prettily it also makes a great gift for the holidays, or any time of year.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Corn Chex or similar
- 2 cups Rice Chex or similar
- 2 cups Wheat Chex or similar
- 1 cup Cheerios or similar
- 1 cup puffed wheat cereal
- 1 cup cheese crackers like Cheez-its
- 1 cup small salted pretzels knots or sticks
- 1 cup corn chips like Fritos
Sauce
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons celery salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Place a large sided cookie sheet on the counter.
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In a large bowl, gently combine the cereals, pretzels, cheese crackers and corn chips together. Try not to crumble the cereal pieces.
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In a small saucepan make the sauce. First, melt the butter over low-medium heat. Then, remove from the heat and add the Worcestershire, celery salt, garlic salt, and onion powder. Whisk a bit to combine.
*This can also be done using the microwave. Just melt the butter for about 45 seconds in a glass measuring cup, then remove from the microwave and whisk in the remaining sauce ingredients.
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Slowly pour the sauce over the dry ingredients, stopping occasionally to stir to evenly distribute the sauce. (I use a silicone spatula and fold over the mixture a few times.)
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Spread the cereal mixture onto a cookie sheet, and cook for 45 minutes at 300 degrees. Cool completely in the pan, then store in an airtight container.
Mary, how sweet THANK YOU!! Merry Christmas to you as well! xoxo
So many memories! No machine-fabricated imitation can replace the home-made recipe I recall from your mom’s kitchen! Gotta try the mass-production approach some time! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
I have great memories helping my mum, too, which is why i love doing it!! i don’t think anybody makes as much as I do!!
Love it! And, you’re getting the jar back soon – it’s already half gone as it’s a great snack at work. 🙂 Merry Christmas!
There is something about homemade Chex mix that I love. 🙂