Sweet-and-Salty Party Mix Recipe (2024)

I don't typically have corn syrup on hand...any idea if maple syrup would be a good substitute? I live in VT, so we ALWAYS have maple syrup in the fridge...

Made this exactly as the recipe is written (unusual for me), had a party with 35 people and no one liked it. It was an odd combination of flavors that did not work well together.

Are those Bugles in the photo? Do they still make them? I used to put them on my fingers as a child and pretend to be a witch. ;)

This stuff is crack. I made it as written with Bugles, Cheez-Its and bagel chips, and added a little extra salt. A poster expressed concern about the quantity (17 c. of ingredients), but as with traditional Chex mix, everything shrinks when doused with buttter sauce and exposed to low, slow heat. I made it on Thursday, and am honestly worried about having enough left for the weekend. As another commenter mentioned, the fun is playing with the ingredients. Looking forward to experimenting.

Butter or Oil?Corn Syrup or Maple Syrup?Bugles or Cheez-Its?If the flavors and textures seem right to you, just do it. There are very few rules to party mix - as long as you don't stray too far outside the ballpark. Whatever results will likely be wonderful. And if not, it makes perfect packing material for shipping things.Just to save you any disappointment, however: be clear that, if you do choose Cheez-its, you and your guests will not be able to stick a finger in one.

Everyone loved it. We don't have such refined palates in this part of the country I guess.

This would be fine without the sugar, oil. soy sauce, butter and Worcestershire sauce. You can also skip the additional salt, since some of the snacks and popcorn are already salted. The noted omissions make the baking unnecessary. The preparation is cut down to about one third of the time or less - other than assembling the ingredients. The result is a tastier and healthier snack that holds up well for a longer period of time.

Around these parts, some folks might be inclined to switch out the regular butter for cannabutter, or so I hear. Signed, yet another Vermonter (where it's legal).

Big hit yesterday at summer bbq. I didn’t have corn syrup but had blue agave. It worked well I think. Used unsalted butter too. Nice kick from cayenne which might have been too much for the little kids but the adults loved the flavor.

It is difficult to imagine salted butter and corn syrup in any recipe.

It appears this recipe makes 17 cups? What do we do with 17 cups of a snack that lasts only a week? Have I misinterpreted the recipe?

@laney, maple syrup is not a substitute for corn syrup generally - totally different flavors and corn syrup is thicker - but I bet maple syrup would taste great in this anyway.

Yes, they still make Bugles! They might be hard to find but most of the "ordinary" grocery stores in my area have them (between chips and snack nuts). And I agree, the best way to eat them is by putting them on your fingers.

I make this recipe as is every Christmas for the past three years and people devour it! No changes needed it’s great! I bag it up and put it into stockings and/or hand it out at the office. Also a great snack for guests while they wait for dinner!

This is absolutely yummy. I don't have to worry about it lasting a week - I don't think it will last an hour (esp. with teenaged boys).

The flavor of the glaze reminded us of Japanese arare mix. We sprinkled nori komi furikake on type and it made it even better! We didn't have all the dry ingredients recommended, but a box of stale water crackers and 4 cups of roasted peanuts worked well.

Everyone loves this snack. I cut the cooking time to 60 minutes after the first batch started to smell like burnt sugar.

This looks great. If you turn your nose up at salted butter or corn syrup, fix it your own way. Your friends will like my version better.

I really liked this. I used Chees-itz, Bagels, Crispix, thin pretzel sticks, homemade popcorn and pita chips. All because it's what I had. Next time, and yes, there will be a next time, I'll try to have bagel chips, I also think the sesame sticks would be delicious. I used peanuts, again, what I had. I only had about a tablespoon of sesame seeds, I thought that was fine. Really enjoy it and will make again.

I didn’t use salted butter and it was fine. I did add the kosher salt. If I had found bagel chips I would have used them. I used Annie’s Snack mix. Bugles next time.

I am making this again for the second time in less than a week. Everyone loved it!Leave out any garlic flavored crunchies. They did not add. Enjoy.

The secret to this may be stirring it every 15 minutes. A hit with the adults in the family.

Wondering if molasses would be a good sub for corn syrup, for more of a Cracker Jack flavor…

Thank

Update to my previous post -- have to upgrade my review. After about a day, the flavors melded together better and the soy sauce flavor wasn't as strong. We ended up eating the whole batch during our road trip vacation. Will make this again in the future.

I regularly make a highly-tuned version of standard Chex mix, tried this as a change. Excellent! My local shop was too fancy for Bugles, so used rice chips and that was a good match. With homemade popcorn it was actually a little undersalted.To an earlier poster who asked what to do with 17 cups of perishable party mix, it freezes well (or just invite more people). But my question is what do I do with a third of a box of unused Corn Chex? The recipe should really be scaled to that quantity.

This was just okay. Not spicy, salty, or sweet enough.

This stuff is crack. I made it as written with Bugles, Cheez-Its and bagel chips, and added a little extra salt. A poster expressed concern about the quantity (17 c. of ingredients), but as with traditional Chex mix, everything shrinks when doused with buttter sauce and exposed to low, slow heat. I made it on Thursday, and am honestly worried about having enough left for the weekend. As another commenter mentioned, the fun is playing with the ingredients. Looking forward to experimenting.