Halloween Chex Mix -- #halloweenweek treats from Leslie Budewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  One of the highlights of the Christmas season in my childhood neighborhood was the exchange of food gifts among the families. Our next-door neighbors often gave us a big bag of homemade Chex Mix—you remember it, I’m sure, with its mix of nuts and cereals and salty-savory sauce.

So when I spotted this recipe for a Halloween version, I was all in. Now, you could simply add candy corn to the classic mix—and I’d happily gobble it up. But for a sweeter version, in the spirit of the season, this is just the treat, and no trick to it!

The original called for candy corn, peanut butter candies like Reece’s pieces, and chocolate chips. That seemed a bit much to me, plus I couldn’t find peanut butter candies and had chocolate chips on hand. It was plenty sweet, so I’m suggesting any two candy additions, although I think candy corn is a must, for the color and the seasonal treat. Next next time, I’d use plain or peanut M&Ms, instead of the chocolate chips, along with mixed nuts without peanuts. I also discovered that name-brand cereals are far more expensive than generic versions, which worked perfectly fine. 

Halloween recipes should be fun, right? Here’s a few from years past: 

Puff Pastry Rattlers

Spider Deviled Eggs 

Boo Scotti 

Mummy Pizza Puffs 

Veggie Skeleton with Brain Dip

PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing. 

Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Halloween Chex Mix 

3 cups rice Chex cereal 

3 cups corn Chex cereal

4 cups mini twist pretzels

2 cups roasted, salted cashews, peanuts, or mixed nuts

1 stick salted butter (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 1/2 cups candy corn

Any one of the following sweet additions: 

1 ½ cups peanut butter candies

1 cup chocolate chips

1 ½ cups M&Ms, plain or peanut 

Heat the oven to 275°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon sheet.

In a large bowl, combine the cereals, pretzels, and nuts. 

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and stir until combined.

Pour the butter mixture over the cereal mixture and toss gently until evenly coated. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring halfway through. Cool completely on the sheet tray, stirring occasionally. 

Add your sweet treats and toss gently, either on the baking sheet or if you’re concerned about a mess or have children helping you, back in the bowl. 

Serve in your cutest autumn themed bowl. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. 

Makes about 12 cups. 

Happy BOO-ktober! Readers, what’s your favorite Halloween treat, to hand out or keep for yourself? 

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .  

Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills. 

Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket. 

Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf. 

As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook 

Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.  

“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.

A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.