Christmas Party Mix

The first big snow of the year has finally fallen, finals are over, and I'm officially in the Christmas spirit. Which means it's the perfect time for the ultimate holiday treat - Christmas Party Mix.

This delectable and oh-so-simple recipe is a family staple, mainly because it makes the perfect mini gift. I absolutely love gift giving, but when I was younger, it was always such a struggle to figure out how to get my 20+ close friends gifts without completely burning through my bank account. This recipe was my go-to, because it makes about 10-15 bags of delicious chocolaty salty goodness. 

So, if you find yourself in a similar predicament, or need something to bring to all your holiday parties this season, whip up a quick batch of this stuff. I guarantee anyone can make it, and your friends will regard you as an iron chef after sinking their teeth into this. It's so addicting that my family has nicknamed it "Christmas Crack."

First, grab these ingredients:

Plastic wrap

5 cups Cheerios
5 cups Corn Chex

10 ounces mini pretzels

1 pound M&M's (the holiday colored ones!)

2 packages vanilla chips

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Start by covering a large table or counter with plastic wrap.

Grab an extremely large bowl and pour in your pretzels.

Next, add your Cheerios.

Then your Corn Chex.

And top it off with your M&Ms.

Stir your mixture around a bit so that the ingredients are well-combined.

Next, place your chips in a microwave-safe bowl.

Add your oil to the chips.

Then place the whole thing in the microwave for 2 minutes, stirring once. Then microwave fo another 10 seconds and stir again.

At this point, the people around you might start to smell the deliciousness and look for taste tests.

Once your chocolate is melted, pour it over your dry foods mix, stirring gently to combine. Work in shifts, pouring a little bit, then mixing, then pouring some more and mixing again until you're completely out of chocolate.

Pour your mixture over the plastic wrapped counter and spread it out. Let it dry for a couple of hours.

When you're done, your should end up with a clumpy salty-sweet delicious mixture.

To give this away as a gift (if you can bear parting with any of it), put some mix into a decorative holiday bag and close with a twist tie or a ribbon.

Easy, simple, and delicious. Happy Holidays!!

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Turtle Brownies

I love the taste of caramel. It instantly reminds me of fall and Halloween when I used to horde caramel apple suckers and snack on them all through October.

Getting back to the point, caramel is a delicious reminder that fall is approaching. It also goes great with chocolate.

I believe I've made my point.

These utterly simple and oh-so-delicious Turtle Brownies are an excellent combination of chocolate and caramel. Since the recipe makes a huge amount of brownies, I've used them as a "thank-you" gift to countless people, and they're always well-received. I also like to wrap them up in cute tins and give them away around Christmas time. Trust me, people love it!

To make a batch of these for your own gift-giving needs (or to gobble them all up yourself), you will need these ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 package German Chocolate cake mix
1 can evaporated milk
1 package individually wrapped caramels
1 12-oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine 2/3 cup of evaporated milk, butter, and cake mix. Spread half of the mixture across the bottom of a well-greased 9x13 baking pan. The mixture will seem super-thin, but don't worry, it will puff up to about 3x the size during baking.
Then, place the entire pan in the oven and bake for 7 minutes.

While you're waiting for your base to cook, unwrap your caramels and put them in a small saucepan. Pour 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk on top of the caramels and heat on low until they melt. Be sure to stir continuously! Nothing makes a kitchen smell gross faster than the smell of burning sugar.

Once your brownie base is cooked, pull it out of the oven and evenly spread your chocolate chips across it.

Next, pour your caramel mixture over the chocolate chips.

The last step (and the most fun) is to take the remaining cake batter and spoon it on top of your brownies. No need for even coating here - just slap dollops of batter onto the pan wherever you see fit!

Now, place your brownies back in the oven and wait an ungodly 30-40 minutes for the batter to finish cooking and all of the caramely-chocolatey goodness to fuse together.

These are best eaten right out of the oven so you can appreciate the chocolate-caramel lava domes oozing throughout the brownies. Every forkful punctures a new patch of ooey-gooey goodness.

Like I said, these make great gifts. But only if you're willing to part with them!

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