I was inspired when I saw this Betty Crocker Chex Mix recipe that made a chex party mix WITHOUT baking the mixture in the oven for 1 hour.
Cuz let's face it.
Nobody even wants to THINK about turning on the oven when it's still 90 degrees outside.
My favorite flavor of Chex mix is this addictive Hawaiian style Furikake Chex Mix that's a bit savory and a bit sweet all at the same time; and I had posted the full batch oven recipe here. But, I wanted to test out the microwaved version, so that when the craving hits in the summer time, I can still make some without breaking out a sweat.
Well, I'm here to report that the experiment was a success!!! I'm actually amazed because I admit--I was skeptical that microwaving would work. I thought it would come out soggy. But it's crispy and onolicious!!! THIS version it's so much faster than the oven baked method, I had to document it on the blog so I remember this for next summer.
So what are you waiting for? With only one bowl to clean up afterwards, what's not to love? Get out that box of chex cereal now and give this a go!
This version is much healthier than store bought which has a bunch of hydrogenated oils. This recipe just uses simple ingredients you'd likely have in your pantry--well except the furikake, but you can find that at most local Asian grocery stores now-a-days. They even carry it at Trader Joe's if you have one nearby.
Yields 3 snack servings
Ingredients:
- 3 c plain Chex cereal (corn or rice chex)
- 1 ½ T unsalted butter
- 1 t soy sauce
- ¼ c brown sugar
- 1 t honey
- 2 T of furikake-norigoma (Roasted sesame and seaweed Japanese rice topping)
Procedures:
1. In a large bowl, add butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, and honey. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, then stir, and microwave again for 30 seconds two more times with stirring in between, until butter is all melted and all the sugar has dissolved.
2. Add the Chex cereal. Thoroughly stir until the syrup has coated all the cereal; then sprinkle furikake and mix.
3. Microwave uncovered on high in 1 minute intervals for a total of 3 minutes with thorough stirring in between each minute after microwaving.
4. Allow to cool in the bowl uncovered. (I had a fan blowing at medium speed on the bowl.) Give it a stir after 10 minutes of cooling. It will start to sound nice and crispy after about 15 to 20 minutes of cooling. When fully cooled, store in an air tight container or zip lock bag. Will keep at room temperature for up to 4 days, but with such a small batch, I think it will be all gone before then.