Reindeer Chow

Package up a treat bag full of this Reindeer Chow for your workmates, friends, and neighbours this holiday season! Loaded with pretzels, candy, peanut butter chocolates, and candy coated cereal, this sweet and salty snack will disappear quite quickly! Alternatively, set out a big bowl with cellophane bags and ribbon and encourage friends and guests to help themselves before leaving your holiday party!

Before starting an official blog dedicated to holiday food, I shared two recipes to my other blog, Lord Byron’s Kitchen, which celebrated the ease of putting together a festive and fun party snack mix, much like this Reindeer Chow. I really do think that these are the types of snacks that people love to eat at a casual get-together – you know the type – a birthday party, a movie or games night, and especially and Christmas party!

The two Christmas snacks I speak of are my Christmas Eve Sweet Snack Mix, which uses peanut butter in the chocolate mixture and also uses shreddies cereal rather than chex. Secondly, there’s my Christmas Eve Savoury Snack Mix, which is my favourite, because I tend to go for salty and savoury over chocolaty and sweet treats.

When I thought about posting this recipe, my first thought was that I’ve done this already. But, not quite. I wanted to show you how easy it is to switch up a few ingredients in a recipe to make it new and exciting all over again. Let’s prove that by making a few changes we can make a new recipe. Change and alter the ingredients and colours to create a brand new recipe! Note how inviting and festive this snack mix looks! And, it’s so easy to make too!

SUBSCRIBE NOW AND NEVER MISS ANOTHER RECIPE!

So, welcome, Dear Reader, to the start of my annual holiday-themed recipes. Traditionally, every year I share a series of recipes that you might already be familiar with. For example, I’ve previously shared 12 Holiday Trifles, 12 Holiday Bars & Squares, and even these 12 Edible Holiday Wreath recipes! Also, some of my favourite recipe collections from previous years are my 75 Homemade Gifts from Your Kitchen, my 50 Make Ahead Freezer Friendly Christmas Recipes, and my 30 No-Bake Christmas Recipes post.

This year I’m doing it differently. Rather than sharing multiple back to back series, I’m sharing a new holiday-themed recipe almost every day from now until Christmas Eve. For those of you who have followed my annual Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas series, don’t worry, you will still get lots of new cookie recipes this year too. I will not, however, be publishing the cookies back to back in a 24-day series. This would have been my 8th year running the series and it becomes very exhausting, so this year, I’m spreading the recipes out so that I’m not sharing the same type of recipe every day.

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! And, just in case you’re curious, you can see previous annual posts for my 24 Cookies of Christmas Series here!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Chex Cereal – For best results, use plain Chex cereal. If you cannot find Chex, a really good substitute is Shreddies. They’re very different, but Shreddies tastes great in this recipe too.
• Candy Melts – You will need both green and red candy melts.
• Confectioner’s Sugar – This coats the candy melt-coated cereal and prevents everything from sticking together or clumping.
• M&M Candy – To keep my snack mix looking festive. I’m using red and white candy here.
• Peanut Butter Cups – I’m using miniature peanut butter cups for this snack mix.
• Pretzels – You will need to use mini pretzels for this recipe.

CANDIES, CANDIES, AND MORE CANDIES!

This particular recipe uses holiday M&Ms, but there are other candy-coated chocolates out there that you can use. Here in Canada, we have something called Smarties. I think in the United States, smarties are those flat, pressed-powder-like candy that comes in a cellophane-wrapped rolls. They’re often found in large bags for Halloween treats. In Canada, smarties are a candy-coated chocolate much like the popular M&M.

In fact, you might also want to consider using Cadbury Mini Eggs. Those would be a great option! They release bags at Christmastime with red and green candy-coated mini eggs which would work very well here.

HOW TO MAKE REINDEER CHOW

Step 1: Preparation

Measure each colour of your candy melts into separate large microwave-safe bowls. Set aside. Next, measure one cup of confectioner’s sugar into a large resealable food-safe bag. You will need two of these bags, using a total of two cups of confectioner’s sugar. Set those aside.

Step 2: Applying the Candy Melts

Working with one colour of candy melts at a time, microwave according to the package instructions. I like to microwave in 30-second intervals at half power or speed. This will melt them slowly and prevent them from seizing. Stir well between each interval until they are fully melted and smooth. Once smooth, add 4 cups of the cereal to the bowl and mix with a spoon until fully coated.

Step 3: Shake it!

Transfer this mixture to one of the bags with the confectioner’s sugar. Seal the bag and shake well to coat the cereal. Empty the contents into a fine-mesh sieve and shake off the excess confectioner’s sugar.

Step 4: Resting Time

Transfer the cereal to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread the cereal out so that the pieces are not touching. Allow the pieces to air dry for 2 hours.

Step 5: Repeat

Repeat the steps above using red candy melts.

Step 6: Finishing Up

Once both colours have air dried for at least 2 hours, transfer them all to a large mixing bowl along with all of the remaining ingredients. Toss well to combine. Store in a food-safe bag at room temperature for up to 7 days.

WHAT ARE CANDY MELTS?

Candy melts are small, round discs that are made to emulate white chocolate. They are available in a wide range of colours. Once melted, they are used in confections such as the coating on cake pops. I think the term candy melts is owned by Wilton, which is the only type I’ll use.

I use Wilton’s because I have used the brand many times before and have never been disappointed, but also because they have a lot of different colours to choose from. Oh, and the price is always good too!

If you cannot find candy melts, you can either order them online here, or you can use generic brands that can be found at your local baking supply store. The generic brands are sometimes called melting wafers. As you can see, I used red and green candy melts in this case, which is pretty obvious! Ha!

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most snacks and treats, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. Reindeer Chow will stay fresh in a cookie jar or food-safe container with a lid for 7 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop.

Please be advised that in almost all cases, frozen treats prepared with pretzels and cereal tend to lose that crunch when thawed. They will still taste good, but not as good as they should. With all of that said, you really don’t need to freeze snacks and treats, because for the most part, they are ready in very little time and you should easily be able to prepare them the day you plan to eat them or serve them to guests.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!