Bacon Fat – Bacon Salt Chex Mix

INGREDIENTS

9 Cups various Chex cereals
1 Cup Gardetto Garlic Bagel Chips
1 Cup Cheez-its crackers – any flavor
1 can premium mixed nuts
Pretzels – add however many you want. (If you double the batch, I just split the bag evenly.)
1/2 Cup + 2 Tbsp salted butter (1-1/4 stick)
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
2-1/4 Tbsp Smoked Bacon Salt
1-1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, or 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Powder
1-1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Celery Salt
1/8 Cup brown sugar

Bacon fat…whatever looks good to you… no real measurement for this
Bacon bits – crispy, broken up (if I am shipping or storing the mix I don’t include the bacon – but if I am taking it to a party I definitely add the crumbled bacon as a garnish)

STEPS

Cook the bacon in advance so you have the bacon fat readily available when you assemble the snack mix.

Melt butter and seasonings in a heavy saucepan or frying pan, along with the bacon fat. Stir to dissolve powdered and ground ingredients, and to combine melt-able ingredients.

Meanwhile, assemble your large bowl(s) of dry ingredients (chex, nuts, Cheese-Its and Gardettos, etc). Toss gently by hand to combine.

Slowly add the seasoned liquid to the bowl of crunchy ingredients, and toss repeatedly to ensure that dry ingredients are evenly coated. (I tend to use all the sauce because I like a strong flavor for the chex mix.)

Spread snack mix in a single layer on a large baking sheet(s).  Bake at 250F for 45 min, gently tossing/mixing every 15 min to insure even toasting. For the final 15 min, raise oven temperature to 300F to brown the mix.

Allow snack mix to cool for several hours, and enjoy. To me the flavor of this snack mix is best after it’s cooled, and better still if it is allowed to sit for a day…but it’s good whenever.