For the month of December the faculty at our school takes turns bringing treats to the office to share with everyone as a Christmas gift for each other. The last few years that we've done this I've made Oreo Truffles. (The less "professional" and official (I think) term is Oreo Balls. But come on. Oreo Balls or Oreo Truffles. I rest my case.) Tangent aside, I decided this year I wanted to spend less time prepping my treat and spend more of my weekend with my kid (crazy, right?) and therefore went to a favorite that I've made a few times and feeds a lot.
Better than Sex Chex mix!
Or if you'd prefer "Better than Anything" Chex mix. Either way...it's GOOD. I'm pretty sure the recipe is based off the cake that became popular (obviously in places other than my house) several years back. You know...the one that you put caramel and sweetened condensed milk on while it's hot and if you eat it after it's been refrigerated for a day you pretty much go into a sugar coma? If you aren't familiar with this cake, maybe if I'm feeling ambitious I'll post that recipe here too. DOUBLE WHAMMY!
Here be the recipe:
Better than Sex Chex Mix
8 cups chocolate chex cereal (or you could just use the whole box...it's the same thing. I just saved you time. I'm awesome.)
¾ cup brown sugar
6 TBSP Butter or Margarine
3 TBSP light corn syrup
¼ tsp baking soda
1 cup Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (MINI size)
1 cup miniature marshmallows
½ cup caramel bits (or chop up regular caramels...but really...caramel bits. For real.)
1 TBSP Heavy cream
½ cup milk chocolate chips
½ cup vanilla chocolate chips
1 tsp coarse sea salt (yeah...I didn't actually measure that out...I just poured it in the palm of my hand and sprinkled until it looked right.)
Into large microwaveable bowl, measure cereal and set
aside. Line cookie sheet with foil or
waxed paper. In a 2 cup microwaveable
measuring cup, microwave brown sugar, butter and corn syrup uncovered on high
for 1-2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute.
Stir in baking soda until dissolved.
Pour caramel mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring
every minute. Spread on cookie
sheet (PS- It's hot.). Cool 10 minutes then break into
bite size pieces.
Make sure chex mixture is cool to the touch (so the candy
doesn’t melt) Evenly sprinkle peanut butter cups and marshmallows over the
mixture.
In small microwaveable bowl, microwave caramel
bits and cream uncovered for about a minute (I mixed it every 20 seconds so it didn't burn...don't know if that really helped...but I'm going to pretend I know what I'm talking about and say it did.).
Drizzle over chex mixture. Repeat
with milk chocolate chips and vanilla chocolate chips. Quickly sprinkle with sea salt while the
chocolate is still wet. Refrigerate
until set. You don't have to store it in the fridge...once the chocolate hardens you can take it out and just keep it in a ziplock bag or an airtight container.HEY! Remember that cake I told you about earlier? Here's the recipe I use for that:
Better than Sex Cake
German Chocolate cake mix
1 jar Caramel ice cream topping
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tub Cool Whip
2 Skor bars (no really. It's WAY better than toffee bits or Heath bar)
Bake the German Chocolate cake following the directions on the box. As soon as it comes out of the oven, poke the cake all over with the handle of a wooden spoon. Pour the whole jar of caramel and the whole can of milk over the cake while it's still hot. When it cools, spread the whole tub of Cool Whip on the cake and then crumble the Skor bars on top. Generally I chuck the Skor bars (still wrapped!) at the wall or floor (mostly because it's fun) to break it into little pieces. Let it sit in the fridge for at least a few hours before serving. It's soooooo good cold!
