Sweet and Sticky Chex Mix

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Sticky Chex Mix features two different kinds of cereal and almonds covered in a delicious sugar syrup. It’s sweet, crunchy, totally addicting, and the perfect holiday treat!

Sticky sweet Chex mix with almonds in cream bowl on countertop with pieces of Chex around bowl.

This easy sticky Chex mix is one of my favorite Christmas treats! My mom would always store it in a big yellow bowl in the pantry and I always remember sneaking a handful whenever I could.

It’s sweet, crunchy, and totally addicting!

This recipe works because it:

Uses simple and familiar ingredients. You may need to grab the cereal, but you probably have everything for the sticky syrup already.
Makes a lot! It’s perfect to leave out for some holiday snacking. And if you don’t eat it all yourself, it makes a great gift for neighbors.
Is something everyone will enjoy. Even though there are nuts, they are small enough for picky eaters to pick out.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Sticky Chex mix ingredients on counter including butter, sugar, and almonds.

Combine 10 cups of Rice Chex and 5 cups of Corn Chex in a large bowl and set aside.

Large white bowl full of Rice and Corn Chex mixed together on countertop.

Add 1½ cups of light corn syrup, 1½ cups of granulated sugar, and 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons of margarine to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.

Metal saucepan with boiling sugar syrup on quartz countertop.

Boil for 2 minutes (set a timer).

Remove the syrup from the heat and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Pour the syrup over the cereal and stir to make sure everything is coated.

Large white bowl with Chex mix covered in sugar syrup on countertop.

Pour the cereal onto large metal baking sheets. Add ½ cup sliced almonds and mix everything together.

Metal sheet pan with sliced almonds on Chex mix and scattered almonds on counter.

Allow the Chex mix to cool. Store in airtight containers.

Recipe Tips and Substitutions

Woman's hand holds sticky sweet Chex mix with almonds over bowl full of Chex mix.

There are lots of different recipes out there for sticky Chex mix and they all call for different amounts of cereal. I like how the cereal is lightly coated with this recipe, but if you want a lot of sticky syrup on your cereal you can start with half of the cereal called for and add more until it’s the consistency you want.

Make sure you use a large bowl so you can easily stir all the ingredients without any spills.

And if you don’t have a large bowl, you should separate the cereal into two bowls before pouring the syrup on.

Spray your bowl with cooking spray to keep the sticky Chex mix from clinging to the sides.

It’s best to use a wooden spoon to stir the Chex mix. And you can spray it with a little cooking spray, too, to keep the Chex from clinging to it.

This recipe calls for margarine, which you may not on have on hand. You can substitute butter but it won’t make the syrup as sticky.

Only boil the syrup for 2 minutes or it will harden after the mix dries and clump all of the cereal together. The cereal should easily pull apart from each other.

And make sure you stir the syrup constantly to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Some recipes call for you to add the nuts when you combine the cereal, but I find you can get them more evenly distributed if you add them when the cereal is on the cookie sheets.

While you should follow the ingredient amounts for the syrup, feel free to add more/less almonds, and you can even try some of these mix-ins:

Shredded coconut
Pecans
Walnuts
Cashews
Peanuts
Golden Graham cereal
Popcorn
Pretzels
Chocolate chips (you should wait until the syrup cools to add these)
Holiday M&M’s (you should wait until the syrup cools to add these)

More Like This

Two brown holiday boxes full of gooey Chex mix with a bowl full of Chex mix nearby.

Looking for more easy and delicious Christmas treats? You’ll love these:

FAQs

Cream bowl full of sticky Chex mix with sliced almonds.

Why did my Chex mix turn out soggy?

Always stick to the ingredient amounts in the recipe, especially the liquid ingredients.

If your Chex mix still turns out soggy, you may have poured all the wet ingredients onto one spot, or didn’t stir well.

You can fix the problem by adding in some more of the dry cereal and stirring to combine.

I hope your family loves this sticky Chex mix! If you make it, be sure to take a picture and tag me on Instagram with @ashcroftfamilytable and use the hashtag #ashcroftfamilytable!

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