Party mix – or Chex mix, depending on where you’re from – gets a bad rap. Let’s be honest… pitiful, bland Chex mix is the fruit cake of party snacks. It’s always around during the holidays, but often as placeholder in a big bowl at the center of a snack table. And that’s a shame. It doesn’t have to be that way. At least not anymore. No offense to nana, but… my party mix recipe is better than hers! Don’t believe me? Make it. If I’m wrong, you can come back in a huff and tell me all about it. 😜
Wow your friends and family with a great party mix this holiday season. Or at your next Super Bowl party. Or because it’s Tuesday at work and everyone can use a little something to munch on. You’ll be a hero and people will ask you what witchcraft & wizardry and/or addictive narcotics were involved in the making of your party mix. Tell them. Don’t tell them. That’s up to you.
The goo in this recipe has been years in the making and while I feel I’ve pretty much perfected it to my taste at this point, I’m sure I’ll still tinker around from time to time. Maybe this recipe is a starting point for you. Or maybe it’s already perfected to your taste. You won’t know until you try it!
As for the mix part of the party mix, you can put pretty much whatever you want into a party mix mix and it’s gonna be good. I hate Wheat Chex, so I don’t use them. If you like them, use them. I like the whole sweet/salty/savory thing, so I always use Honey Nut Chex (they came out with Maple Brown Sugar Chex this year, which I tried and they;’re are also good for this recipe). I like cashews and honey roasted peanuts. I’m “meh” about other nuts. Use whatever nuts you like. Hell, throw some sunflower seeds in there, if you want… it’s your party. Dance to the music in your head.
That said, there are some very specific ingredients in this recipe that I wouldn’t mess around with, because you’ll be headed right back down the path toward mediocre, pedestrian party mix. And no one wants that!
Butter
“Alysson, can I use margarine instead of butter?” Wha… I… did… why… okay, okay. I need a moment. <takes deep breath… counts to 10… > I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just ask that. Every time someone makes party mix with margarine, angels wings get violently ripped off and hurled into a fiery lava pit in the depths of hell. Do you want that on your conscience? I can’t even look at you right now. 1… 2… 3… 10. Okay. Moving on…
And don’t cheap out on the butter. You think the butter doesn’t really matter and you’re wrong. It matters. Use good butter. Kerry Gold is a great choice. The extra creamy butter Land O’ Lakes makes is solid choice. The butter is what melds together and delivers all the other flavors throughout the mix, but it also brings its own flavor to the party. You wouldn’t play Tchaikovsky through a megaphone, would you? Well, don’t start off with an inferior base ingredient either.
Pure Maple Syrup
Pancake syrup is not maple syrup. Log Cabin, Mrs. Butterworth’s, Hungry Jack… that ain’t maple syrup. It’s maple-flavored corn syrup. That’s not what we want here. I’m not a syrup snob. Believe it or not, I actually prefer the fake stuff on waffles & such. But it’s not the right thing for this recipe, so look at the ingredient list. Is there anything there besides “MAPLE SYRUP”? Yes? Put it down. Any product with anything in the ingredient list except maple syrup is not pure maple syrup. You want pure maple syrup. Yeah, it’s a little pricey. But you’re only using a few tablespoons for this recipe. You can also use it to add depth of flavor to everything from sweet potato casserole to pumpkin dip and custards to mulled cider. Splurge on a bottle in the fall and use a couple tablespoons of it here & there as the “why is this so good” secret ingredient all season, like I do.
Tajin/Lawry’s Casero
Ever since I made my Mexican Street Corn Casserole recipe (which I will publish soon), I’ve been a little bit obsessed with Tajin. If you can’t find Tajin, Lawry’s Casero will work (but Tajin is preferable). I even put Tajin in my 7-layer bars this year (I call mine Bitchcraft Bars and I’ll post that recipe pretty soon, too). Tajin is spectacular. The party mix will not be hot or have any real discernible spiciness, but it will be amazingly flavorful. Just trust me on this, okay. It’s the marriage of sweet & savory in the goo that makes this party mix superior to the pedestrian versions most people are familiar with.
Garlic Powder
No, I’m not gonna tell you to buy a specific type of garlic powder just for this party mix recipe. That would be a bit extreme, even for me. I’m gonna tell you to buy a specific type of garlic powder and use it for everything. Kidding! I just wanted to give you a heads up about a new kind of garlic powder I came across recently: Badia Roasted Garlic Powder. If you didn’t know, now you know. And you’ll never buy regular garlic powder again. Welcome to the cool kids’ table.
Hot Sauce
I’m definitely not one of those “I put that shit on everything” hot sauce people. But a teaspoon or two adds a lovely bit of extra flavor party mix without any heat. If you like a little heat, feel free to add a bit more to your taste. Just be careful not to add so much that it overpowers the other flavors. I use El Yucateco Chili Habanero, but use whatever hot sauce you like (or not… that’s cool, too).
Crispix
It’s weird that I specify Crispix when there are already three types of Chex in the recipe, huh? I agree. It’s a little weird. This is one of those Bob Ross “happy accident” situations. One day when all the Rice Chex in all the land was somehow simultaneously out of stock, I decided to just use Crispix instead. Well, here’s the thing about Crispix:
It absorbs the goo completely differently than Chex!
After it bakes and cools, the Crispix takes on this slightly chewy texture that is simply lovely juxtaposed against all the other crunchy ingredients. And that’s how Crispix became a permanent ingredient in Not Your Grandma’s Party Mix.
Goldfish Crackers
For many years I put Cheez-Its in my party mix and they were delicious. No complaints. This year, Goldfish crackers were on sale when I was about to make my first party mix batch of the holiday season, so I grabbed them. Epiphany… it was a party mix epiphany. The Goldfish add a welcome sense whimsy I never knew my party mix was lacking. Goodbye Cheez-Its, hello Goldfish. Huzzah! You can even use a combination of different Goldfish flavors. Parmesan and cheddar are usually my go-tos.
Pretzels
Pretzels are the unsung hero of any party mix. They give you that little extra punch of salt and a different kind of crunch. They also sort of get glazed by the goo, rather than absorbing it, which is a different flavor experience vs. the cereals. Take the pretzel seriously. Not just any pretzel will do for Not Your Grandma’s Party Mix. That’s what makes it not your grandma’s! I’m not even going to offer any acceptable alternatives here. It’s Snyder’s Butter Rounds or Snyder’s Butter Snaps. Period.
I realize that seems rigid and inflexible, but you’ll understand once you’ve tasted them. Just trust me here. You don’t even have to come back here to tell me I was right. Just nod knowingly in your kitchen when you taste them.
Sesame Sticks
I just love sesame sticks. I love sesame seeds in general. Given the choice between a sesame seed bun and a plain bun, I’m always opting for the former. I have a hypothesis that people who don’t like sesame seed buns might be psychopaths or aliens of some kind, but… that’s neither here nor there. I suppose you could leave the sesame sticks out of this party mix, but I don’t know why you’d want to. Just don’t eat ’em warm. They taste weird. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just me. 🤷🏼♀️
Now get cooking! Well, mixing… Party Mixing! <<badum tss>>
Not Your Grandma’s Party Mix
Ingredients
Party Mix Goo
- 1 c salted butter (melted)
- 8 T Worcestershire sauce
- 3 T pure maple syrup (the real stuff)
- 1 T honey
- 2 T Lawry's Seasoned Salt (low sodium)
- 1 T Tajin or Lawry's Casero (chili lime seasoning)
- 2 T garlic powder
- 1-2 t hot sauce (to taste, optional)
Party Mix Mix
- 3 c Corn Chex
- 3 c Rice Chex
- 3 c Honey Nut or Maple Brown Sugar Chex
- 2 c Crispix
- 2 c Goldfish crackers
- 2 c Snyder's Butter Rounds or Butter Snaps
- 1 c whole cashews
- 1 c honey roasted or dry roasted peanuts
- 1 c sesame sticks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225º
- Melt butter in a 2+ cup glass measuring cup in the microwave or a small saucepan on the stove over low heat
- Add Worcestershire sauce, maple syrup, honey, seasoning salt, chili lime seasoning, garlic powder and hot sauce to butter, whisk vigorously
- Microwave (or low simmer) for 30 seconds, whisk vigorously and set aside
- Combine cereals, pretzels, etc. in a very large mixing bowl or roasting pan
- Whisk goo vigorously and spoon half of it evenly over the mix ingredients
- Toss and mix throughly, coating the mix evenly
- Whisk remaining goo again and pour evenly over the mix
- Toss and stir thoroughly again, until entire mix is evenly coated and taken on a sheen
- Pour mix out into a large roasting pan and bake at 225º for 90 minutes, stirring thoroughly every 15 minutes
