Low-fat Chex Mix

[Lynne1975]

I love, love, love Chex Mix but not the ridiculous amount of butter in the recipe on the box. Does anyone have a low-fat version or ideas on lightening it? I can't spend another holiday season avoiding it! Thank you!!!

[jphilg]

Disclaimer....I have never tried this, but here is my idea:

The butter is largely for fabulous taste, but it also is softens the cereals to let the added flavorings penetrate. What if you cut back the butter to half, or even a quarter, and added a few tablespoons of chicken broth? This would help get the flavors dispuersed through the mix, and it would evaporate in the cooking process, so it would be crunchy at the end.

If you experiment, please let us know how it went! I am totally addicted to ChexMix...my Aunt Betsy always arrives at THanksgiving with tins of it, and I would happy skipping dinner and jsut snarfing Chex Mix all night.

That stuff in the bag is nasty, though. It has to be homemade.

Jen

[Lynne1975]

I totally agree with it having to be homemade. I never thought about broth, I will let you know if it works (although I probably won't get around to making it until the holidays.

[dotglee]

I've been on this quest before myself, with varied success. If you do a Google search on "low-fat chex mix", you'll come across some interesting variations. One has apple juice; another has salad dressing and low fat margarine. Using butter flavored spray on the pan seems to be standard. I think reducing the butter, increasing the Worcestershire, and leaving out the mixed nuts would go a long way to reducing my usual. My grandmother always called the mix "nuts and bolts." Is that just a Southern thing?

[lisas3575]

Originally posted by dotglee
My grandmother always called the mix "nuts and bolts." Is that just a Southern thing?

LOL! Nope, we called it that growing up, and my mom was born in Oregon. Her parents came from Nebraska. Another (older) friend in town calls it that too-- and his family homesteaded here in Oregon.

So your version must have Cheerios too then?

[Terrytx]

My Mom calls it nuts and bolts also. She lives in Louisana.

[BosunsWife]

You guys are making me crave Chex Mix which is not a good thing for a pregnant lady. I may have to go to the grocery store and get the fixings for Thanksgiving.

[ReneeV]

Here's a light Chex Mix recipe I have in my recipe collection, but I have never made it. (So many recipes, so little time!)

Low Fat Snack Mix

3 c wheat chex
3 c corn chex
3 c cheerios
3 c fat free pretzels
3 egg whites, beaten til foamy
5 tsp worcheshire sauce
1 1/2 tsp season salt

In a large pan, mix the wheat chex, corn chex,
cheerios, and pretzels together. Set aside. In another bowl, beat your egg whites til foamy. Then add worcheshire sauce and season salt. Mix well.

Pour egg white mixture over cereal mixture. Stir
well. Then lightly spray the cereal mixture with Butter Flavored Non-stick Cooking Spray.
Stirring well, spray lightly several times.

Place on cookie sheet and put in warm oven (250)
for 1 1/2 hrs. Stirring every 30 minutes. When done, take out and spread on paper
towels. Sprinkle lightly with Garlic Salt. Store in air tight container.

I may make this for my office Christmas party this year. I was thinking of adding some soy nuts to make it more like the original. Also it would add to the nutrition profile.

Hope it's good!

Renée

[funnybone]

Here's the lowfat version from www.chex.com

http://www.generalmills.com/Chex/rec...?secID=1&id=82

It's got about 70 calories as opposed to 130 (I think).

[Lynne1975]

...substituting an equal amount of spray butter for the melted regular butter in the recipe? Anyone think this would work?