My mom used to make this trail mix around the holidays. It’s the kind of stuff that just begs you to keep eating it. It is the perfect blend of salty, sweet, and crunchy. I have distinct memories of gathering around the kitchen island at my parents’ house over Christmas break with my high school friends inhaling this delicousness. And making this for Easter this year brought me right back there.
The different textures in this trail mix come from pretzels, two different Chex cereals, Cheerios, M&M’s, and lightly salted peanuts. All that crunch covered in wonderful white chocolate.
Now this recipe makes a ton of trail mix. You’ll need a pretty big bowl for mixing and coating the mix with the melted chocolate. I used the 6-quart bowl from this Martha Stewart set and it was perfect.
The best parts of making such a big batch are (1) snacking while you make it and (2) sharing the love. Here I’ve packed up some trail mix to send to my brother in Chicago. And I have another coffee can filled to take home to the rest of my family this weekend.
It’s easy. It’s tasty. And since the only thing that makes this a “holiday” trail mix is the color of the M&M’s, it can easily be adapted to other holidays. Or just a normal day. You don’t need a holiday to make a treat.
Happy Easter!
Holiday Trail Mix AKA Mom’s Trail Mix
Original recipe printed in the Chagrin Falls PTO Cookbook
1 10 oz. package mini pretzels
3 C Cheerios
3 C Corn Chex
3 C Rice Chex
1 1/2 C peanuts
1 14 oz. package holiday M&M’s
2 12 oz. packages white chocolate candy discs*, melted in a microwave safe bowl
Step 1. Put all ingredients except the melted chocolate into a big bowl. I recommend something around 6 quarts.
Step 2. Pour the melted white chocolate over the other ingredients and mix until evenly coated.
*I checked two different grocery stores and couldn’t find white chocolate discs so I used two 11 oz. packages of white chocolate chips instead. Still delicious but they cool faster so mix quickly after you’ve poured the white chocolate.