My favorite food discovery this year has to be Mayan Chocolate Chex® Mix. It is spicy (but not too spicy), crunchy and chocolatey. It is super easy to make (all done in the microwave!) and totally worth the effort. When you buy the ingredients (3 boxes of different kinds of Chex®) you can make 3 batches of the recipe. Go ahead and buy enough of the other ingredients so you can make all 3 batches. You could eat the cereal as cereal, but after you try the recipe, you won’t want to.
When I make a recipe for the first time, I really try to follow it exactly. Then I can make variations if I decide to ever make it again. When I went to make this recipe, I could not find the Ancho Chile Powder that it called for. I went to 4 stores! Since this spice was impossible to find where I live, I Googled substitutes. I found that Paprika would work (Paprika is something I always have on hand). I think it tasted great! Before I made the recipe for the 4th time, I had gone to a spice store (Penzey’s!) and found some Ancho Chile Powder. I think that the Ancho is a little spicer but the Paprika worked equally well. I would recommend that if you don’t already have Ancho Chile Powder, you really don’t need it for this recipe. Certainly don’t go to 4 stores looking for it!
I had randomly bought Nestlé® Toll House® Dark Chocolate Chips for the first recipe. Next trip to the store we bought Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Chips. I honestly preferred the Nestlé® because they were much larger in size compared to the Hershey’s. Both taste good but the larger sized chip really held up well in the mix with the big cereal and cashews. Since it can really be about the chocolate sometimes, the bigger chips were certainly more impressive.
I made this recipe for a teacher appreciate event at school. I bagged it up in little snack sized bags, so the teachers could grab one and go. I also made it to give as holiday gifts for family and coworkers. I think it was a hit for both occasions and I will definitely be making it again!
Mayan Chocolate Chex® Mix
3 cups Corn Chex® cereal
3 cups Chocolate Chex® cereal
2 cups Cinnamon Chex® cereal
1 cup whole cashews
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 teaspoons ground ancho chile pepper or paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup dark chocolate chips
Directions
- In large microwavable bowl, mix cereals and cashews.
- In 2-cup microwavable measuring cup, microwave brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, chili and red pepper uncovered on high about 1 1/2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour over cereal mixture; stir until evenly coated.
- Microwave uncovered on high 5 to 6 minutes, stirring after every minute. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool. Break into bite-size pieces; stir in chocolate chips. Store in airtight container.
Makes 24 1/2 cup servings
a million ideas 