Sweet'n'Salty Snack Mix

PKU friendly Sweet’n’Salty Snack Mix

I’ve been indulging in this sweet treat since I was about 10 years old. I can’t remember exactly how it all happened, but basically I wanted to bring popcorn, rice chex, and popcorn with me somewhere, but I only had one ziploc bag available. So what did my 10 year old brain come up with? Well, just put it all into one bag. And I’m glad I did! 

You wouldn’t think much would happen just by adding a couple cereals and some popcorn together, but the flavor combo is stellar! The rice chex serves as sort of a blank canvas to take in some of the flavors of the other ingredients. The cinnamon toast crunch and the popcorn are where the flavor really hit. The combination of the butter and the cinnamon is a great salty-sweet combo. 

I have never added M&M’s to this recipe before, but I thought they’d be a good addition. Not only do they offer this snack an awesome pop of color, but they add the sweet, chocolate-y taste that was missing from this. I added mini-M&M’s just because I think they are more fun, but you can easily use regular M&M’s. Individually, a mini-M&M is going to have less phe in it than a normal one just because it is smaller than a regular M&M, so something to think about. I also thought about adding some low-pro pretzels into the mix but i’m not a huge fan of pretzels. This snack mix is a good base to add the snacky bits you like and add or change the cereals (probably not the cinnamon toast crunch though) up to get your own awesome PKU snack mix!

This recipe is also a super great option to make for your PKU kiddo’s lunch. It’s super easy to bag up and put in a lunch box, and you can easily make enough for the whole week. It’s also great for picnics, hikes, or any other outdoor type of eating because it’s not going to spoil like a pasta salad would, or my frozen grapes would.

Let me know what awesome snack combos you come up with in the comments below. I hope you all enjoy this one!

Ingredients:

Sweet’N’Salty Snack Mix

1 cup Rice Chex (40g)

1 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch (55g)

1 cup Pop Secret Butter popcorn (15g)

½ cup mini M&M’s (80g) (optional)

Serving Size: ½ cup

Servings per recipe: 7 

Phe per serving: 78mg 

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl. 

2. Blend together with a large spoon or with your hands.