Magic on Main Street: Chex Mix

I've been meaning to talk about this recipe ever since The Games of Enemies and Allies came out, but it required a field trip to the grocery store so I kept forgetting about it!

In the United States there is a specific type of breakfast cereal called "x Chex" where x is the type or flavor of Chex cereal. There are quite a few flavors to pick from at most grocery stores (see the photo below) but the classic three that matter for this recipe are Rice Chex, Corn Chex, and Wheat Chex. The poor Wheat Chex type has lost a lot of popularity with the need for gluten free products which I think is probably why in the photo below there are generic cereal versions for only Rice Chex and Corn Chex.

The original recipe that was created using this cereal is called "Chex Party Mix" (because it's using the "Chex" part from the name of the cereal). The Chex cereal box always has the official recipe printed on it - that's how popular it is!

As a side note in my experience I have heard people call this recipe a variety of names so I polled both Instagram and Facebook to ask what they called it, and the resounding answer was the slightly shortened "Chex Mix" although a surprisingly number of people called it "Trash" in their families!

This variety of names for the same recipe is also why I had Jade call it "Party Mix" in the book but her neighbor called it "Chex Mix". There is a completely different packaged snack mix in the United States called "Party Mix" so this can get pretty confusing!

But what is Chex Mix?

If you've never eaten this snack before I realize it can be hard to just look at a photo and imagine what it tastes like. The original recipe is savory in taste and the texture is mostly crunchy - here's the original recipe from the cereal brand's website.

The photo below is from @thewellreadpotato from my Street Team and the version of the recipe is her photo looks pretty close to the classic version, although there appears to be more butter being used than the "official" recipe. By the way, Chex Mix uses Worcestershire sauce which is why everything gets a brown coating on it. In the photo below those dark brown chunks in the middle of the pretzels are from the melted butter + Worcestershire sauce + spices that was poured onto the cereal and pretzels and then dried. Those dark brown chunk parts are the best and I remember fighting to get those pieces when I was a kid.

But the awesome thing about this recipe is there are a lot of options to customize it. It's very common for families to have their own customized version of this recipe that is an ongoing tradition.

For example, some people change the flavor a bit by by adding M and M candies to make it sweet, or adding flavored chips to give it a different savory taste. Other families just tweak the existing ingredients (my family uses a LOT more butter compared to the official recipe which would mean all the cereal and other ingredients get more of a buttery coating on them). There is even a completely different recipe that still uses Chex cereal with powder sugar, chocolate, and peanut butter called Muddy Buddies.

The end result is Chex Mix is a very well know snack in the United States even though most people don't eat it very often, but it also typically generates a nostalgia feeling for most people (and their custom family version) so it was a perfect recipe for Jade to attempt!