Day 16: Don't you dare microwave that chex mix!

Syd woke up feeling and looking a lot more like herself.  She was so much like herself that she refused to nap and refused to eat dinner.  **sigh**  Well at least she is sure to eat a good breakfast... and at least the kiddos are staying with my mom tomorrow (Thanks Mom!).  Looking forward to completing Christmas shopping tomorrow and having everything that needs to be shipped ready to head out on Monday.

I decided it was finally time to make Chex Mix.  I love the way the house smells when we make Chex Mix.  One of my favorite holiday smells and I am here to tell you it is worth every minute it takes to prepare Chex Mix in the oven.  Trust me.  There is a huge difference in flavor.  General Mills should take the microwave instructions off of their website.

Here is the delicious OVEN recipe for Chex Mix.  The way Santa intended.
GF Chex Mix

6 Tbs butter
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce (Original Lea & Perrins is GF)
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
4 1/2 cups Corn Chex
4 1/2 cups Rice Chex
1 cup mixed nuts (READ THE LABEL - I suggest getting raw nuts)
1 cup GF pretzel sticks (I used Mary's Gone Crackers Sticks & Twigs)
***The original recipe calls for 1 cup bagel chips - I simply leave this ingredient out when I'm preparing this recipe.  You could replace with some sort of bite sized gluten free cracker.***

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  In an ungreased large roasting pan, melt butter in the oven.  Stir in Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Stir in Chex cereals, mixed nuts, pretzels and bite sized crackers (optional) until coated.  Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Spread on paper towels until cooled.  Store in an airtight container.

Here is a Chex Mix recipe it is OK to use the microwave for:

Puppy Chow
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tsp gf vanilla
9 cups Chex cereal (any gf flavor will work - We use Cinnamon)
3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Combine peanut butter, butter, and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.
2. Microwave for one minute then stir to blend all ingredients thoroughly.  Add 1/2 tsp vanilla.  Stir well.
3. Place Chex cereal in a very large bowl.
4. Pour the peanut butter-chocolate mixture over the cereal and toss evenly.  Make sure all of the cereal gets a good covering.
5. Place powdered sugar in a large zip-top bag.
6. Add the peanut butter-chocolate cereal mixture to the bag, leaving enough room for the puppy chow to be shaken (it may be necessary to divide into smaller batches, coating one batch at a time.
7. Shake the CLOSED bag vigorously to evenly coat each piece of the puppy chow.
8. Once the mixture is fully coated, place in a large serving bowl.
9. Store in an airtight container.

When I asked Jeff this morning what he wanted to make today he hit the internet hard and went on an inspiration hunt.  A little while later he came out of the room and said Alton Brown has a gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe.  We can't not make those.  So here we are folks, I give you Alton Browns "Chewy Gluten Free".

Ingredients:

8 ounces unsalted butter

11 ounces brown rice flour, approx 2 cups

1 1/4 ounces cornstarch, approx 1/4 cup

1/2-ounce tapioca flour, approx 2 Tbs

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 ounces sugar, approx 1/4 cup

10 ounces light brown sugar, approx 1 1/4 cups

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

2 Tbs whole milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat.  Once melted, pour into the bowl of a stand mixer.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the rice flour, cornstarch, tapioca flour, xantham gum, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.
4. Add both of the sugars to the bowl with the butter and using the paddle attachment, cream together on medium speed for 1 minute.  Add the whole egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.  Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined.  Add the chocolate ships and stir to combine.
5. Chill the dough in the refrigerator until firm, approximately 1 hour.  Shape the dough into 2 ounce balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet.
6. Bake for 14 minutes, rotating the pans after 7 minutes for even baking.  *** We cut the baking time to 10 minutes rotating the pan after 5 minutes.  This could totally be due to our oven needing to be calibrated.***
7. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the pans for 2 minutes.
8. Move the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.  Store cooked cookies in an airtight container.