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- Appetizers, Desserts, Snacks
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Irresistible Churro Chex Mix with a buttery sweet cinnamon sugar caramel coating. This Mexican inspired dessert party snack mix is baked in the oven for 8 minutes until it’s candied then it gets covered in more cinnamon sugar, caramel candy and churro cereal. A deliciously sweet Churro Chex Mix Party Snack made for a crowd.
A Cinnamon Churro Chex Mix Recipe
Chex Mix recipes are my jam. The ingredients are incredibly easy to put together, and it makes for perfect snacking throughout the week. You may even recall this Ranch Chex Mix recipe that I made a few years ago. It has been a top recipe since I shared it. Party snack mixes can be sweet or savory.
Chex Mix snack bowls aren’t only for savory ingredients. In fact, because Chex Cereal is pretty bland in flavor, it’s the perfect crunchy ingredient to season with flavor and create a trail mix of sorts. Sweet recipes that use Chex Cereal like this Strawberry Shortcake Muddy Buddies, Chocolate Mint Puppy Chow or my Mexican inspired Churro Chex Mix are always a big hit for parties. Chex Mix recipes that are more savory like Ranch Chex Mix, Italian Chex Mix, Cajun Chex Mix, or spicy like this Buffalo Ranch Chex Mix.
How to Serve Churro Chex Mix
- BIG BOWL FOR A PARTY: If you’re hosting a party like Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, or Christmas, go ahead and serve it in a big bowl with a large spoon. Next to it, place clear 9 oz. fancy plastic cups. Guests can fill their own cup up as needed.
- SHIP TO KIDS/FRIENDS: Fill a gallon size bag (this makes 2) and ship it to your kids in college or to a friend across the country.
- PARTY CUPS FOR EVENT: Fill fancy 9-ounce plastic cups with 1/2 cup Churro Chex Mix. Place them on a food table for serving.
- DESSERT BOX/SPREAD: If you’re hosting a party with small bite-size dessert servings, serve a few tablespoons in a muffin liner.
- PARTY FAVORS: Send this party mix home in a lunch bag size paper bag or a food-safe plastic candy bag.
Chex mix is traditionally made with snacking ingredients. It’s similar to trail mix but I like to coat my ingredients in a flavoring. I’m using a variety of American breakfast cereals like corn and rice Chex cereal, churro cereal, caramel bits, and pretzels. I even toss leftover shortbread cookies into the mix, too. Use ingredients you think may taste well with cinnamon and sugar.
Chex Mix Seasoning that Sticks
I create a soft and chewy candied shell recipe using butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and baking soda that covers the crunchy cereal. For a brief moment, while still warm, this mixture creates a canvas for other toppings to stick to it. While it bakes in the oven, the toffee will heat up and harden so that it is no longer sticky.
Using baking soda is a trick that’s used in caramel candy making. Traditionally, caramel is chewy and that’s exactly what baking soda does to the recipe. The mixture will rise or foam and will lighten in color when this secret ingredient is added. If you don’t see it right away, just keep stirring until the process starts to take place. The reaction you’re seeing is a chemical reaction among the ingredients and it will change the texture of the ingredients.
Crisp and Chewy Sugar Coating
My Moose Munch recipe uses the same process and you can watch a quick video to see how the baking soda reacts with the other ingredients. Without it, the coating could be too hard, much like hard candy. The candy coating helps the cinnamon sugar topping to stick to it. It also means that you’ll have very little topping at the bottom of the bag.
Chex Mix Tips and Questions
How do I store Chex Mix?
Store the baked trail mix in an airtight Ziplock bag. Churro Chex Mix should keep for several weeks if stored properly.
Can I re-crisp a baked chex mix?
You can if too much moisture gets in the bag or container. To re-crisp, line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Grease the sheet with cooking spray and place it in a 250-275°F oven for a few minutes at a time. Allow mixture to cool. Repeat baking if the mixture is not crunchy within several minutes of cooling.
Why not just buy Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal instead of making Churro Chex Mix?
First, the flavors and textures are entirely different. Each bite starts off crisp and crunchy. The second layer is a soft and chewy sugar coating that you won’t find on cereal. Little clumps of ingredients are bound together with brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup. While both recipes feature cinnamon sugar, they are not the same thing at all.
Do you have other Chex Mix recipes?
Yes, I have several. A reader favorite is this Ranch Chex Mix. It features cheesy snack ingredients along with ranch powder. To spice it up, try this Buffalo Ranch Chex Mix. Then, is this Italian Chex Mix. It uses Italian seasoning along with classic snack mix ingredients. Finally, this Cajun Chex Mix features classic cajun and creole flavors.
Sweet Churro Chex Mix Party Snack
Favorite Recipe
Irresistible Churro Chex Mix party appetizer with a buttery sweet cinnamon sugar caramel coating. This Mexican inspired dessert party snack mix is baked in the oven for 8 minutes until it's candied. It gets covered in more cinnamon sugar and tossed in a bowl with caramel candy and churro cereal. A deliciously sweet Churro Chex Mix Party Snack made for a crowd. Perfect for Cinco de Mayo and Christmas.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 8 minutes mins
Total Time 23 minutes mins
Course Appetizer, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American, Mexican
Servings 22 servings
Calories 264 kcal
Ingredients
- 5 cups rice cereal such as Rice Chex
- 5 cups corn cereal such as Corn Chex
- 2 cups pretzel sticks
- 2 cups Cinnamon Toast Churros Cereal no substitution if can't find since it's added at the end
Churro Sauce
- 1½ cups packed light brown sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter 1½ sticks
- 6 tbsp light corn syrup
- ¼ tsp plus ⅛ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
Churro Topping
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 5 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup baking caramel bits
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Prepare two large rimmed baking sheets with foil. Spray well with cooking spray.
Mix together 1½ cups granulated sugar and 5 tsp cinnamon. Remove ½ cup cinnamon-sugar mixture for later.
Mix together rice cereal, corn cereal, pretzel sticks and divide it into two large mixing bowls.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Once the edges of the saucepan have bubbles then cook and stir for 1 minute. Stir in baking soda and salt.
Pour ½ the mixture into one cereal mix bowl. Use 2 spatulas to toss together until the mixture is coated well. Repeat with the remaining bowl.
Evenly spread mixtures on to prepared sheet pans. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and coat well by tossing it with your hands until most of it sticks to the sticky cereal. Spread mixture into in a single layer.
Bake in oven for 5 minutes. Remove pans and toss mixture. Bake another 4 minutes.
Sprinkle remaining ½ cup cinnamon sugar over the top of the churro chex mix. Allow to cool slightly and gently break apart any large chunks.
Once completely cool, toss with caramel bits and cinnamon toast churro cereal if using. Store in ziplock bags.
Nutrition
Calories: 264kcalCarbohydrates: 51gProtein: 2gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 257mgPotassium: 62mgFiber: 1gSugar: 36gVitamin A: 534IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 72mgIron: 5mg
Nutritional information is only an estimate and it’s accuracy is not guaranteed to be exact.
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6 Responses
I was out of corn syrup so I used maple syrup still so so good!!I add chocolate chips & peanuts, delicious!
Because my fam loves chocolate I also used the chocolate churro cereal.
This recipe is so delicious! Thanks for sharing.
Reply
This has been on my “to make” list for a couple of years now. I finally decided to make this year. It is more effort than a regular Chex mix, and I was kinda hoping that it wouldn’t be good so I wouldn’t want to make it again. We’ll, that is a no go; this mix is worth all of the extra effort and DELICIOUS! We couldn’t keep our hands out of it. I will be giving some away so I won’t eat the entire bowl. Seriously, it is so good! I’m going to have to make it again and probably won’t wait for Christmas the next time!Reply
At what point do you add baking soda & salt? Directions don’t mention. I assume with corn syrup, brown sugar & butter?
Reply
Stir in after removing the boiled caramel from the stovetop. I’ve updated the recipe to include this in the instructions, too. Thank you.
Reply
Is there a typo in this recipe? It calls for baking soda and salt as part of the caramel mixture, but doesn’t say where to use them in the directions?
I dumped them in after it bubbled and hopefully that was the right move. I do cook and bake a lot, but I don’t do much candy type items so I’m not as familiar with recipes like these. In fact… we only every made savory chex mix growing up and I never made it myself as an adult.
Either way, delicious recipe! Just seems to be missing something in the typed directions.
Reply
Hi Ashley. Yes, that is correct. I’ve updated the recipe to include this step. Thank you for taking the time to comment, I appreciate you letting me know. Glad you enjoyed it!
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