Some of my (many) love languages include hosting others, Christmastime, holiday parties, and baking for friends and family. And, as you may have guessed, a few of my very favorite activities and sources of joy are at a bare minimum or are nonexistent right now. In order to spread some Christmas cheer and love on some of our friends in a more tangible way, I decided we were going to be Santa’s baking elves and deliver some Christmas treats around town to our friends, neighbors, and Rob’s real estate clients! We have done this in years past, as well as back in early November with pumpkin bread, and it was a pretty simple, fun, safe, and sweet (literally!) way share a little Christmas cheer – and my love of baking for friends – with our community.

Recipe: Peppermint Chex Christmas Crunch

recipe adpated from Elisabeth & Butter

Ingredients

2.5 cups of corn Chex

2.5 cups of rice Chex

1.5 cups of pretzel sticks, broken slightly

1 cup of marshmallows

1 cup of Christmas M&Ms

1/2 cup of crushed candy canes

1/3 cup of Christmas sprinkles

3 cups of white chocolate chips

1 tsp vegetable oil

Directions (5-10 minutes)

Set out a long length of wax or parchment paper on your counter top. Mix Chex, broken pretzels, marshmallows, 1/2 of the M&Ms, 1/2 of the crushed candy canes, and 1/2 of the Christmas sprinkles in a large bowl. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the white chocolate and vegetable oil for about 80-90 seconds, stirring well every 30 seconds. Once smooth, pour the white chocolate over the mix, tossing gently to coat thoroughly.

Spread the mixture out in a thin layer on your parchment paper, then immediately top with remaining M&Ms, crushed candy canes, and sprinkles while the mix is still wet. Let dry completely before breaking it up into smaller pieces and serving it. Enjoy!

I made four batches of this heavenly mixture, and it is truly one of the most simple and foolproof recipes imaginable. We bagged up the peppermint Chex Christmas crunch into twenty holiday treat bags, added a custom holiday gift tag with a note, mapped our route around town, hopped in the car with Christmas music blasting, and made our way around to twenty houses to drop off this Christmas treat on front porches!

This recipe can easily double, triple, or quadruple, and it’s the perfect gift for teachers, neighbors, your mail person, or really anyone. In this day and age, I’d be careful about what homemade food gifts you share and with whom, of course. We managed to save a little bowl of this for ourselves and couldn’t love it more – it’s incredibly delicious and the perfect mix of salty and sweet!