I have many favorite holiday traditions – I couldn’t possibly pick one favorite. I can tell you that it isn’t truly Christmas until we’ve made a vat of what our family calls Reindeer Food – a sweet and salty Chex Mix treat that we inhale by the handful.
This treat is totally customizable. When I’m making it for a crowd I leave out the nuts, since that’s the most obvious allergen, but you can swap in items of your choice. This is our preferred combo. Prefer pretzel twists to pretzel sticks? Go wild!
In a normal year we’ll make big batches and deliver to our friends and neighbors. In a pandemic, no one wants homemade treats, so more for us, I guess. As of the writing of this post, my family has already worked our way through an entire batch of Reindeer Food, so I think we’re up to the task. I also think it’s time to make more!
Fortunately, this treat requires no baking, and anyone who can operate a microwave can also have a vat of sweet and salty deliciousness.
Reindeer Food
A sweet and salty Chex mix perfect for snacking and sharing.
- 3 cups Corn Chex
- 3 cups Wheat Chex
- 3 cups Rice Chex
- 2 cups pretzel sticks
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- 2 cups dry roasted peanuts
- 12 oz pkg Vanilla Candy Melts
Put chocolate chips in the freezer to chill
Combine all ingredients, except for chocolate and candy melts
Add chilled chocolate to the mix (this will keep the chocolate chips from melting when you add the candy melts)
Melt candy melts in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between. Be careful not to overcook
Pour candy melts over mix and combine quickly.
Pour entire mixture onto a cookie sheet and allow to cool
Eat by the handful!
- You can use any combination of Chex that you prefer, as long as you use a total of nine cups. I typically use at least two varieties for a variety of textures.
You can omit any of the ingredients, like the nuts for allergies or preference, and just slightly bump up the quantity of the other items.
We used to buy Wilton candy melts, but I can’t find those any more. Any brand of vanilla candy melts would work. Most recently I used the Good & Gather brand from Target, but Ghiradelli also has some that we want to try.
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