With the holidays coming up, many of us will be traveling to see family. I am so excited to spend Christmas with my parents, siblings and all of our little ones. With more than 20 hours of driving from Florida to New York, I am always looking for great snacks to bring on the road with us. Trail mixes have always been a favorite for both my husband and myself. However, did you notice that when you rifle through a store bought trail mix, you're constantly digging for your favorites and then you're left with half a bag of stuff you don't really like and you either have to throw it out or eat it because you're bored? It happens to me every time.
That's why it's so cool to make your own trail mix - you can add only the things that you love and every time you reach for a handful you'll be happy and not have to throw half of the handful back into the bag, hoping that maybe your fellow passengers might like it. Crunchy Chex cereal, a variety of nuts and pretzels are coated in a slightly sweet, salty and cinnamony topping and then I added all our favorite dry fruit and of course, chocolate and coconut flakes. This combination is our favorite. What sort of things do you like in your trail mix?
This Tropical Chex Party mix is awesome for parties too. If you're hosting or attending any parties, you know how much people like to munch on things while waiting for the main meal or passing a bowl of goodies around when playing board games, watching movies or playing charades. We LOVE playing all sorts of games in our family. Charades is high on the list every time.
Ingredients:
8 cups Chex cereal (I used Rice Chex)
1 cup pretzels
4 cups assorted nuts (I used almonds, cashews and pecans)
4 egg whites, whisked
⅓ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ cups banana chips
1 ½ cups chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
1 cup yogurt covered raisins
1 cup craisins
1 cup dry apricots, cut in half or quarters
½ cup coconut flakes
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large bowl, mix the Chex cereal, nuts and pretzels until evenly combined. 
Pour in the whisked egg whites and mix until the mix of cereal, nuts and pretzels is evenly coated in the egg whites.
Mix the sugars, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl and then pour in to the bowl with the cereal, nuts and pretzels. 
Mix again until evenly coated. 
Spread it out on a large rimmed baking sheet. 
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, add the coconut flakes, then mix it up and bake for another 20 minutes. 
Cool and then break up the mix into smaller pieces.
When the mix has cooled, add the rest of the ingredients. 
Mix to combine. 
Store in an airtight container. You can portion out the mix into small Ziplock bags for convenient snacks on the go. I also like storing the rest of the Tropical Chex party mix in a large gallon Ziplock bag to keep it fresh in my pantry.
Tropical Chex Party Mix
Ingredients
- 8 cups Chex cereal I used Rice Chex
- 1 cup pretzels
- 4 cups assorted nuts I used almonds, cashews and pecans
- 4 egg whites whisked
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 ½ cups banana chips
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
- 1 cup yogurt covered raisins
- 1 cup craisins
- 1 cup dry apricots cut in half or quarters
- ½ cup coconut flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl, mix the Chex cereal, nuts and pretzels until evenly combined.
- Pour in the whisked egg whites and mix until the mix of cereal, nuts and pretzels are evenly coated in the egg whites.
- Mix the sugars, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl and then pour in to the bowl with the cereal, nuts and pretzels. Mix again until evenly coated.
- Spread it out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, add the coconut flakes, then mix it up and bake for another 20 minutes. Cool and then break up the mix into smaller pieces.
- When the mix has cooled, add the rest of the ingredients. Mix to combine.
- Store in an airtight container. You can portion out the mix into small Ziplock bags for convenient snacks on the go. I also like storing the rest of the Tropical Chex party mix in a large gallon Ziplock bag to keep it fresh in my pantry.
If you’d like to make this recipe or one of the many Chex Party Mix recipes available, be sure to visit your local Publix for extra savings on your ingredients. Here are two great deals!
Be sure to visit the savings page online and download your Chex and Ziploc coupon. Coupons are great, aren't they?
Publix Extra Savings flyer 12/12/15 – 1/1/16
• Buy 2 Chex cereals and get 1 free Ziploc brand bag or container (up to $3.29)
Coupon available 12/1 – 12/31 (while supplies last)
• $1 off 2 Chex cereals
Giveaway
Use the entry form below to enter to win $10 Paypal Cash! One entry per person, ends 12/31/2015. Open to anyone with a valid Paypal account, void where prohibited.
We like Chex Mix and for appetizers veggie trays
I love bringing crunchy veggies
Love this recipe! We like to take a chex mix we call white trash with us if it is holiday time. Other than that we like to make a buffalo chicken dip with chips.
I like salty finger foods for traveling, and for an appetizer, veggies and dip. Thanks for the giveaway!
Very good idea to make your own, will deff have to try this !
I hope you enjoy it, Valentina.
Yum! The kids will love to take this to school.
That's a great idea, Alyssa.
We enjoy dry and fresh fruit and all sorts of nuts.
We like to cut apples in quarters in a zip lock bag and string cheese....
Those are great snacks, Alla. It's so convenient to have the apples already cut when on the road. If I have time, I like to peel them too.
this looks awesome, always looking for recipes that everyone can munch on, and this is great for trips with kids! thanks for another great recipe olga!
Yes; it's a great one for kids. Plus, you can customize it by putting in whatever your kids like.
We love apples and sun flower seeds (unsalted kind or home baked)!!!
Sunflower seeds are very popular with anyone Slavic:). Apples are my favorite.
I like trail mix when traveling. My family likes bacon chicken bites and baked ham cheese rollups as appetizers.
Both of those sound yummy. Appetizers are nice on the road - little bites go well for load rides, don't they?
We like to take along pretzels , apples and sometimes chips.... This snack would be great with the combination of dried fruits and pretzels ! Thanks for the recipe and giveaway ! Have a safe trip going to NY. Merry Christmas to your lovely family!!! 🎄🎁
We bring pretzels and apples every time too:). Merry Christmas to you and your family too, Tatyana.
We love pretzels and salty sticks. 🙂
I like to keep packets of trail mix handy for on the go.
So, I took 2 bags of this Chex mix to work today and finished it all. Salty and sweet, crunchy and nutty is my kind of the snack.