Snowy Trail Mix

Alright, so maybe you're not really in the mood to think about snow right now, but I can't help it--that's what this stuff is called.  You don't need snow on the ground to appreciate it, though.

I made up a big batch of this stuff to take with me on a weekend jaunt, and immediately, the kiddos insisted I make a second batch to leave with them.  This trail mix has got it all: sweet and salty, crunchy and chewy, all smothered in yummy melted white chocolate.

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I first came across this recipe years ago in Family Fun magazine.  Now you can find it here.

Or here.

Snowy Trail Mix

3 cups pretzel sticks

1 1/2 cups corn cereal

3/4 cup pecan halves

1/2 cup cashews

1/2 cup dried cranberries

12 ounces of white chocolate

1. In a large bowl, mix together the pretzel sticks, cereal, pecans, cashews, and dried cranberries.
2. Melt the white chocolate according to the package directions and slowly pour it over the mix, stirring gently.
3. Scoop the mix onto waxed paper to cool, about 20 minutes, then break it into bite-size clumps. Makes about 10 cups.

Recipe notes:

• I used vanilla chex (it's new, and yum--check out the coupons tab above for a free printable coupon) for the cereal, but this would be yummy with just about any non-flake, non-overly-sweetened cereal (other chex varieties, crispix, cheerios). 
• I ended up adding about 3 cups of cereal instead of the 1.5 cups suggested in the recipe.  I tend to do that with all recipes that call for cereal, like rice krispie treats, muddy buddies, and marshmallow star cookies.  One and a half cups just didn't look like enough.
• I used a 12 oz bag of vanilla flavored white candy melts for the white chocolate.  You could make this mix using different colors of candy melts for different holidays, like orange and black for Halloween, green for St. Patrick's Day, or use your graduate's high school colors for a graduation open house.
• This recipe is delicious as written, but as with just about all trail mix recipes, it's totally customizable to your taste.  Just make sure the keep the ratio of dry to wet ingredients about the same.  Don't like nuts?  Leave 'em out.  Want more fruit?  That sounds good to me.  Want to just coat stick pretzels in white chocolate and call it trail mix?  Go for it.

Enjoy!