the Merry Mix-mess (aka Christmas Crack)

Found this recipe on Pinterest the other day and thought it sounded yummy and easy. It sounded as if it would make a lot and I thought it might make a good little treat to give out this season to Lovie's teachers. While in Target gathering supplies yesterday, she asked if we could give it to her friends, too. Why not? There really is a TON of it and if I don't give it away my stomach will hate me.

I've changed the name because I'm thinking The Merry Mix-mess is a little more age appropriate for 3-year-olds than Christmas Crack but this shiz is definitely appropriately named as its original, Christmas Crack.


I went off the original recipe but changed up my dry ingredients a bit and followed someone's suggestion in the comments to make it less sticky. The result? Insanely good. And addictive. Oh so addictive.

Ingredients:
box of Golden Grahams
box of Rice Chex
bag of pretzels, broken up a bit (didn't have nuts but would definitely add some)
holiday M&M's
2 cups corn syrup
2 cups sugar
3 sticks butter

Directions:
Mix cereal, pretzels in a huge bowl (I needed to use two bowls- there's LOTS of it!). Cook corn syrup, sugar, butter in large saucepan for about 10-15 minutes till your thermometer reads 234 degrees. (Suggestion in comments was to drop a bit of the liquid in cold water and if it balls up, it's ready.) Pour hot liquid over dry ingredients and mix, mix, mix. Add some M&Ms for color and different texture. Stir. Spread out on PAM sprayed cookie sheets and let cool, stirring a bit to break it up. You can then bake for an hour on 250 (original recipe doesn't do this) and it will become less sticky because the sugar hardens... but it HARDENS. And it becomes more candy-like, in my opinion, but oh so good. And it's a bit of a bitch to then break up but sooo worth it, really.

I was able to fill up three gallon size freezer zip lock bags and will store in the fridge till I'm ready to divvy out in little packages. (Assuming I don't keep sneaking handfuls of it.)