The Perfect Holiday Snack for Busy Moms: Peppermint Crunch Chocolate Chex Bars
Let’s be honest, here at The Best of This Life – presents, decorations and snow days are all fantastic. But what do I really get excited about when the holidays come around?
Food. Ah, yes, the mouth-watering scents of home-cooked, hearty meals, seasonal vegetables/fruits and my favourite holiday treat: dessert. As you all know, I am a busy mom of two kiddos, so I’m constantly battling the age-old conundrum of hungry bellies, a jam-packed schedule and a budget to keep in mind. Chocolate Chex is coming to the rescue once again this Christmas season. And I couldn’t help but share this delectable, easy-to-make, kid-friendly dessert recipe with you (General Mills assured me there’s enough Chocolate Chex to go around!).
Appropriately named “Peppermint Crunch Chocolate Chex Bars,” this scrumptious dessert has everything you want in a festive treat. Chocolate Chex is a great source of B vitamins and healthy fats to fill up hungry tummies! This dessert also includes holiday snack favourites like marshmallows, chocolate chips and peppermint candy canes. These gooey bars will not only be easy on your wallet, but easy to whip up with the whole family. My kids for example, loved helping me in the kitchen with this recipe. Their favourite part was stirring the Chocolate Chex together with the melted chocolate chips and marshmallows. They also enjoyed using their little arm muscles to crush the colorful candy canes into smaller pieces for mixing.
Our family time is sacred, especially during the holidays. It’s very important to my husband and I to build a strong foundation of yearly traditions, giving our kiddos something to look forward to for decades to come. Baking is definitely one of those valued traditions! We can savour these Peppermint Crunch Chocolate Chex Bars as we play games, watch the snow fall or while enjoying our favourite Christmas films —A Charlie Brown Christmas and Home Alone.
Through the hustle and hectic nature of the holidays, I hope you never forget that the best of this life can often be found in taking a moment to breathe, slow down and do something together as a family. Bonus points, if it involves chocolate, peppermint and a warm pan full of goodies.
I’ve listed the recipe below for your enjoyment, and from one busy family to another: happy holidays!
Peppermint Crunch Chocolate Chex Bars
Description
A favourite holiday treat the whole family will enjoy! Makes 24-32 bars
Ingredients
- 1 box Chocolate Chex cereal
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 oz)
- 1 bag of marshmallows (454 g)
- ½ – ¾ cup crushed peppermint candies
Instructions
- Place cereal in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
- Grease a 13×9 inch baking pan and set aside.
- Using a large double boiler or large bowl for the microwave, heat up butter and chocolate chips until smooth (5-7 minutes medium heat on stove top or 1 minute on medium high in microwave).
- Add marshmallows and gently stir until coated.
- Continue stirring until the marshmallows melt completely (5 minutes on stove top, if using microwave, heat uncovered on medium high for 1-2 minutes).
- Once the mixture is smooth and melted, stir in cereal very gently until coated, taking caution not to break it up too much.
- Press the cereal mixture evenly into pan using a large silver spoon (cooled with ice cold water – it will help you spread the mix easier).
- Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candy, using desired amount.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Cut into squares with a large sharp knife and serve.
Emily Smith is an Ambassador for Life Made Delicious and a member of the “Delicious Experts” Influence panel. This post is in partnership with Life Made Delicious. As always, opinions are 100% personal.
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This literally just popped up in my bloglovin feed and now I’m hungry! These look so yummy!
We love peppermint bark but have never tried any other variations of it. This is such a good idea and it looks so good. I’ll have to try this!
Oh, my! This looks soooo good! I have bookmarked this page!!
Those look delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thanks for sharing this recipe, I love how easy it is to make, they sound awesome too!!
That looks so festive and delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe, I really like how easy it is to make!
What a great idea these are and they look sooo good.
Those sound easy to make and very tasty. I would give them a try.
These look yummy! I’ll have to make some for next week! 🙂