Apple Pie Crunch

***UPDATE: See this post about our new eating habits. (7/10/11)

I make a lot of snack mix. A LOT. Seriously……a lot. I make it for gifts, for potlucks, for car trips, for dessert. There are only about a zillion different types to make. My favorite is Chex Caramel Corn, but that recipe is to follow sometime this Christmas season. Have I mentioned that I make a lot of snack mix? I used a Chex recipe and tweaked it a little bit to come up with this one, using things I had at home. The best part about this recipe is that it’s made in the microwave! Even better, the next few times you use your microwave after this, it will still smell like Apple Pie. It’s a holiday miracle!

We need cereal, vanilla, apple pie spice, butter, and brown sugar. The cereals I used were: corn chex, apple cinnamon waffles, and caramel delight. Apples and caramel just go together….it’s a match made in heaven. You could use any type of apple flavored cereal – apple cinnamon Cheerios, Apple Jacks, etc. If you don’t have apple pie spice, you can make your own. That’s what I always do! I never buy it….it’s expensive and I always keep the spices on hand that are in it. To make your own, mix together: ¼ cup ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon allspice, 2 teaspoons nutmeg, and 2 teaspoons ginger. Ta da! Apple pie spice, easy as pie.

You could use nuts in this recipe, but I didn’t. Yes, I am in love with peanuts…..but have you had Apple Pie with nuts in it? Nope. That would just mess with the whole lovely smooth texture of the delicious apple pie.  So, I left it out of this.

In a small bowl, mix together your brown sugar and apple pie spice. Set it aside for a minute.

Melt your butter in the microwave in a small bowl or measuring cup. Add your vanilla and stir…..vanilla makes everything better. Except scrambled eggs. Been there, tried that.

I make snack mix so often that I have a mixing bowl dedicated to it. Meet my $.50 snack mix mixing bowl from Target. You two are going to become good friends. Pour all your cereals into a big bowl and mix gently with a long handled spoon. If you use a short spoon you’re eventually going to have brown sugar and butter all over your hands. I’m trying to think about why this is a bad thing…….not coming up with anything. Use a short spoon.

Pour your vanilla butter over the cereal and toss well. Make sure you get all the pieces coated with butter…….it would be very sad if a piece was left out. Lube ‘em up buttercup!

Now, add your brown sugar spice mixture. Time to toss again. Get it all coated and delicious looking. Man, this is really going places.

It should look like this. Man, oh man. If you think this looks good, just wait…..it’s going to get better….and crunchy. Crunchy, buttery goodness. Oh yeah, I just went there.

Now, you’re going to stick your mixing bowl in the microwave. Nuke the mixture for 1 minute, then stir. Do this a total of four minutes, stirring after each minute. You might need to do it 5 minutes, but my microwave would burn the hair off an ape, so I have to be careful….I got a little happy with this one and burned a few pieces. Do not worry! They did not go to waste. I ate them anyway – they were still tasty. Like burned cinnamon toast. I like burned pizza crust too. I am my mother’s child.

Just let it cool in the bowl, tossing every few minutes to break it into small pieces. When it’s cool, you can store it in a Ziploc bag or in an airtight container. It won’t last long, I can promise you that. Try to think of it as a healthy snack. I mean, we DID use Fiber One. Three cheers for fiber!