Fall Harvest Chex Mix Recipe
This Fall Harvest Chex Mix is a nice fall treat that has a bit of sweetness and a bit of spiciness to make your fall complete! It’s one of the many Chex Mix Recipe Ideas that our family loves.
The combination of seasoned salt, Worcestershire, hot pepper sauce, and a few other ingredients make this recipe delectable and on the smokey side! The M&M’s add a bit of delightedness. We enjoy the recipe when the weather turns cool and summer has disappeared.
This recipe was found while looking through my collection of culinary magazines. I’m not kidding when I say making this snack will make your home smell like fall. It makes quite a bit so it’s perfect to make for your next seasonal get together. It would even be great to make as a snack for your guests on Thanksgiving Day.
Items needed to prepare this Chex Mix snack
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Reasons to love this Fall Chex Mix
Ingredients and tips for this Chex Mix recipe
Below is a list of helpful ingredients and tips, along with links to purchase what you need. The links are affiliate links and will not change the price of the item.
- Chex Cereal: We use both wheat and rice. It’s the perfect mix of hearty and smooth.
- Mini Cheese Crackers: You can use Cheez-Its or Gold Fish for this ingredient. Either one will work well.
- Pumpkin Seeds: If you aren’t a fan, you can omit these.
- Butter: We use unsalted butter due to the salt content in the rest of the recipe.
- Garlic Powder and Seasoned Salt: Do not skip these ingredients. They are what gives the mix it’s flavor.
- Worcestershire Sauce: Just like the seasoned salt, you don’t want to skip this one. When it is combined with the salt, it takes the mix to whole other flavor level.
- Hot Pepper Sauce: To add a little zing, this is also a must. We like to use Louisiana hot sauce. However, if you aren’t a pepper fan, you can omit this step.
- M&M’s: You can either use milk chocolate or candy corn. These are also a must to include because of the sweetness it adds.
What are some substitutions for hot sauce?
Even though the hot sauce in this recipe gives it a zing, it is perfectly fine to omit it. You can also replace it with a bit of crushed red pepper if you want minimal spiciness.
Do you have to mix every 15 minutes in the oven?
Other recipes require you to mix every 15 minutes in the oven. I imagine the reason why they do this is to make sure the seasonings are thoroughly baked into the mixture. However, we have never done this and the recipe turned out great. Just make sure to mix thoroughly after baking is finished.
What items should I use to make this Fall Harvest Chex Mix?
We use this 3 Piece Baker’s Delight Set from Nordic Ware. It heats the mix evenly while cooking most of the ingredients. The natural nonstick feature is also wonderful as our baked items have never stuck to the bottom.
For tossing the mix after baking, I use these Silicone Tongs from Maywe. They are great to use in ovens up to 600 degrees. The silicone ends also do not scratch the coating of the baking pan.
Can I substitute M&M’s with another ingredient?
Yes you can! Suggestions can be semi-sweet chocolate chips, raisins, or even Craisins. Mini pretzels and peanuts can also be added.
More of Our Favorite Fall Snack Ideas
Looking for more fall snack favorites? I’ve compiled a list from this site and from our friends!
- Peanut Butter and Chocolate Acorns
- Caramel Apple Mini-Pops
- Scarecrow Cheese Ball
- Candy Corn Snack Mix
Helpful Kitchen Tools
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Ingredients
- 3 cups Wheat Chex
- 3 cups Rice Chex
- 3 cups miniature cheese crackers (we used Cheez-Its, goldfish can be used as well)
- 1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds (washed and dried)
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspon hot pepper sauce (we used Louisiana Hot Sauce)
- 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (we used Louisiana Hot Sauce)
- 2 cups milk chocolate M & M’s or candy corn M & M’s
Equipment You’ll Need
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
- Place the melted butter inside a small bowl stir in the seasoned salt, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce.
- Drizzle butter mixture over cereal mixture and toss to coat.
- Bake for 1 hour and transfer to a large bowl. Let the mixture cool for 15 minutes and then add in the M & M’s. Stir until well combined.
- Store in airtight containers or in a gallon sized ziplock bag.
OOOOO – I love this recipe. Printing & pinning! Thanks for sharing!
I love chex mix. I am pinning this for later
When do you add the M&M’s?
You can add them after the mixture is baked and in a large bowl. I corrected the directions and added this step 😉
What if you don’the have “fresh” pumpkin seeds??
You can use packaged pumpkin seeds, however, if the pumpkin seeds are mixed with salt and other seasonings, you may need to decrease the amount of season salt, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder in the recipe. If it is not decreased, the mix will turn out super salty. I made that mistake once.
Don’t be afraid – I hate heights and hate take-offs but end up traveling all the time for work ( actually almost top tier of the frequent-flier club ) that aside, skip the m&ns, use extra fresh pumpkin seeds (from carving), do scrabble Jr. Cheese crackers and my 4 yr old will give a big thumbs up!!!! 🙂
You can definitely omit the M&M’s and substitute for fresh pumpkin seeds 😉
So I made this first time tonight. It is absolutely great! Didn’t have pumpkins seeds but was stil fantastic. I will look for pumpkins seeds for next batch. I’m bringing half of this batch to work tomorrow. Have to share this w/ coworkers, it’s too good to keep to ourselves!
Thank you for letting us know how it turned out 🙂 I am glad to hear that you enjoyed it 😉
I made this recipe exactly as is and it was perfect! Definitely a hit the my family and co workers! I LOVE the Cheese-its in it! Thanks for the great recipe!
Very welcome Shannon. I’m so glad it was a hit 🙂 Thank you for letting us know how it turned out 🙂
I think you needs some honey roasted peanuts added
That would be a great addition 😉 Thanks for sharing! 😉
So you don’t stir it every 15 minutes? ?
You can most certainly stir it every 15 minutes but it’s not necessary 🙂
This turned out well, but it is much too salty. And, no, the pumpkin seeds weren’t salted. Next time I’ll simply reduce the amount of season salt.
I’m sorry to hear this Connie 🙁 Simply decreasing the amount of season salt will help with it though 🙂 Thank you for letting us know your thoughts 🙂
Our family loves this recipe! It’s a great thing to snack on while making all of that yummy Thanksgiving food!
Do I need to let the mixture cool a bout 10 or 15 mins. after the mixture comes out of the oven before I add the m&ms I am afraid they r going to start melting immediately as soon as I start adding them and stirring them into the hot mixture of cereal, crackers, etc. that just came out of the oven.
Thanks!
Of course you can! We’ve never had problems with melting, however, if you feel that it may happen, you can cool the mixture down for around 15 minutes and then add the M&M’s. Hope this helps 🙂
You have a really good camera, but you need a microphone…I could barely hear you in the video. Love the recipe!
Thank you for your suggestion Cassandra. Hubby and I are currently working to find a better solution for our sound quality issue. Hopefully we will find one soon!
How long does the mix keep for in sealed containers?
Hi Wendy! I would say no longer then 3 days….maybe 4.
Is it hot tasting with all the hot sauce? Thanks
No. It’s not spicy at all. If you aren’t a fan of the hot sauce, you can always leave it out of the recipe.
Thanks, sound good. I am gonna to try it.
This looks good, however What can I use in place of the hot sauces? Please let me know by e-mailing me at
heatherandmidnight06@gmail.com
Has anyone tried this with Reese’s pieces?