Gluten-Free Caramel Pretzels, Popcorn, and Chex Mixture

Caramel Pretzels, Popcorn, and Chex Holiday Mixture

I am calling this a holiday mixture, because if I eat this all the time, well, I might be in trouble. It's very addictive and it is GLUTEN-FREE! I am sorry I don't have exact measurements on the amount of pretzels, rice Chex, popcorn, and raw peanuts I used. I will say that the first batch I made was too sweet for me; so, I added more stuff (Chex and pretzels, mainly) to temper and thin out the sweetness, and I really like the second batch.

Ingredients:                                             (again, I used only gluten-free ingredients)

• 1 c of butter (1 stick of butter)
• 2 c of brown sugar (I will probably use a bit less in the future)
• 1 tsp + a few more pinches of sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 c corn syrup (Not sure there's a 'healthy' version of corn syrup, but I got a light, organic version at Sprout's)
• rice Chex (I used nearly 1 box)
• butter popcorn (I used 1 single serving - 42.5 g - bag of Orville Redenbacher's jbutter microwave popcorn)
• gluten-free pretzels (our family likes the Glutino brand)
• gluten-free pretzel sticks (again, I used the Glutino brand)
• raw peanuts (I purchased my bulk at Sprout's)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees.
• Place the dry stuff (pretzels, rice Chex, popcorn, peanuts) on to baking pans and mix the contents up. I placed the dry stuff into two pans to make a larger batch and to keep the mixture from being too sweet).

• Place all the stuff that comprises the caramel glaze (butter, salt, brown sugar, baking soda, vanilla extract, corn syrup) into a pan and place on lower medium heat. Once the caramel glaze has melted and blended together, it is ready to pour over the dry goods.

•  Bake in the oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Here is the finished product.