Toffee Nut Snack Mix

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I don’t know if you know this or not, but there is a big football game this weekend. After the Patriots were out, my 10 year old has (almost) stopped talking about plays and stats and football stuff that I don’t even pretend to understand. My husband is a long time Peyton fan, so I am sure that he will be watching with interest. The thing that I am most interested in – the snacks. But really, if I am being totally honest, most events are about the food for me. I love football snacks. Super Bowl snacks typically involve cheesy goodness, salt, crunch, and it’s the one day a year that you can eat chips all day and not feel terrible about it.

I love Chex mix, it is the perfect blend of salty, sweet, and crunchy. I found this Toffee Nut Snack Mix recipe in this month’s Martha Stewart and knew that it would be great. Brown butter, thyme, nuts, and toffee. It is a little fancier than your average Chex mix, but so good. I have noticed something, when I make things with toffee bits or Heath bars, they don’t taste good until they have cooled completely. I almost threw this out, I tried it when it came out of the oven and I was like, “eh, this is okay.” But later when I tried it again and it had cooled completely, it was amazing. You can make this a few days ahead of time and keep it in an airtight container.

1 cup Wheat Chex
1 cup Rice Chex
3/4 cup pretzel sticks
1 cup whole raw almonds
1 cup roasted unsalted (or lightly salted) peanuts
1/2 cup toffee bits
3/4 cup butter
5 sprigs thyme
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt

Line a sheet pan with foil or parchment and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, combine cereals, pretzels, almonds, peanuts, and toffee bits.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Let cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Be careful to not let it burn.

Remove the butter from the heat  and add the thyme. Be careful, it is going to splatter, stand back. Add the brown sugar, mustard, and salt. Mix well.

Add the butter mixture to the cereal and toss to coat.

Pour out into a single layer and bake for 15 minutes, or until the toffee bits melt.

Take out and toss. Remove the thyme sprigs and let cool completely.

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, January 2014.