Homemade Chex Mix

My husband's grandma Nellie is legendary in our family as the matriarch of "Nuts and Bolts", a homemade Chex Mix that was THE BEST!! She baked each batch separately, never doubling, and every year made unbelievable numbers of batches for all her family (her three kids, her grandkids and their growing families) plus many friends. We were always very excited when we got our zip lock bag of Chex Mix in the mail every Christmas from Granny in Kentucky. It was the saltiest, moistest (with butter and oil), and most delicious Chex Mix you have ever tasted. We rationed it and tried to make it last as long as we could!

I have included Granny's original Nuts and Bolts recipe below as well as my version that is not quite as salty and much less oily. I essentially double the amount of cereal and use Crispix cereal instead of Chex because you get both the rice and corn flavor in one bite and just have to buy one box of cereal. Using a mix of corn, rice and wheat Chex is tasty as well. I usually don't add nuts because my kids prefer it without.

Perfect study snack during finals~

Granny's Nuts and Bolts

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup mixed nuts
2 cups bite sized shredded rice cereal
1 cup Cheerios
1 cup thin pretzel sticks
2 teaspoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoned salt

Melt butter with oil and Worcestershire sauce in microwave. Pour over nuts, cereal and pretzels. Sprinkle with garlic and seasoned salt.  Mix well. Pour into 9 x 13" shallow baking sheet.
Bake at 300° for 25-30 minutes, stirring every 5 or 10 minutes.

Joy's Flavorful Chex Mix (Big Batch!)
* I like to make a big batch so I have lots to share!

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup canola oil
10 cups Crispix or a mix of  Rice, Corn and Wheat Chex  (4 cups rice, 4 cups corn and 2 cups wheat)
3 cups Cheerios
3 cups pretzels (sticks or mini pretzels)
1/3 cup Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons garlic powder 
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 tablespoons Lawry's seasoned salt

*add mixed nuts if you like

*pita chips or bagel chips make a nice addition, too

Put butter and oil in glass measuring cup and add garlic powder, onion powder and seasoned salt. I like to add the salt into the sauce because it dissolves and seems to get distributed over the dried cereal better. Melt sauce in microwave, stir the liquid mixture well, add Worcestershire sauce and stir again. Pour small amounts of liquid over the cereal and pretzels in large bowl while stirring to distribute the sauce all over the dry ingredients.   Pour into two 10 x 15" shallow baking sheets.
Bake at 300° for 20-25  minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Adding nuts and pita chips makes it extra!