Wow Santa and all of his little elfs with Santa’s Crunch. It’s a no-bake treat that combines sweet and salty to produce a perfect edible Christmas gift. It just takes minutes to make, and is sure to put a jingle in all of your Christmas helpers’ steps.
Ingredients for Santa’s Crunch
I used the following ingredients for this delicious treat: Popcorn, Cheerios, Rice Chex, square pretzels, unsalted peanuts, white chocolate melts, vegetable oil, Christmas M&M’s, and Bugle Santa Hats.
Making the Bugle Santa Hats
The only things that I had to make in advance were the Bugle Santa Hats. I could have easily not bothered with these, but how cute are they? I used Bugles, red candy melts, mini marshmallows, and Pearl sugar.
I started by melting the candy melts in a microwave safe measuring cup according to the microwave package directions. Once they were melted, I thought that the mixture was a bit too thick. Therefore, I added some vegetable oil to thin it out.
Then, I held the Bugles by the open end and dipped them in the melted candy melts. After letting the excess mixture drip off, I placed the dipped Bugles on a piece of parchment paper for them to set.
Once the coating had set, I dipped the pointed end into the melted coating, and pressed on a mini marshmallow. I had previously opened up one end of the marshmallow with the tip of a small paring knife. The reason that I did this was to make it easier to push the marshmallow onto the top.
After letting the coating with the marshmallow set, I dipped the open end of the Bugle into the melted coating. Then, I dipped the end into some Pearl sugar. I had previously tried sanding sugar and white nonpareils. However, I thought that the Pearl sugar looked the best!
Making Santa’s Crunch
First, I added the popcorn to a large bowl. Then, I added the Cheerios, Rice Chex, pretzels, and peanuts on top of the popcorn. Next, I melted the white melting wafers in a microwave safe measuring cup according to the microwave package directions. I added some vegetable oil to thin the mixture a bit. After that, I poured the melted candy coating onto the other ingredients.
I used a wooden spoon to thoroughly coat the ingredients with the melted candy melts.
Then, I dumped the mixture onto a large piece of parchment paper. Before it had a chance to set, I sprinkled on the Christmas M&M’s and the Santa Hats.
Once the everything had set, I broke the mixture apart. I packaged some of it in treat bags. I used a rubber band to close the bag. Then, I tied the bag with red and green curled ribbons. I also made a label to put on the bags!
The rest I stored in a Ziploc bag. Santa’s Crunch is the perfect Christmas treat, combining sweet and salty. It makes awesome edible gifts for all of those on your Christmas list. Yum!
Recipe
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Santa's Crunch
Ingredients
Santa Hats
- 1 cup Red Candy Melts
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 24 Bugles
- 24 mini marshmallows
- ½ cup Pearl sugar (See Note 1)
Santa's Crunch
- 10 ounce package white candy melts
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 6 cups popped popcorn
- 1 cup Cheerios
- 1 cup Rice Chex
- 2 cups square pretzels (See Note 2)
- 1 cup unsalted peanuts (See Note 3)
- 1 cup Christmas M&M's (See Note 4)
- 24 Santa Hats
Instructions
Santa Hats
- Melt candy melts in microwave safe bowl according to package directions. Add vegetable oil; stir to combine.
- Holding Bugles by open end, dip into melted candy melts. Allow excess to drip off; place on parchment or wax paper to set.
- Open one end of mini marshmallow with small paring knife. Dip pointed end of Bugle in melted candy coating; press marshmallow on end. Allow to set. (See Note 5)
- Dip open end of Bugle in melted candy coating; dip in Pearl sugar. Allow to set.
- Store in airtight container. Yield: 24 Santa Hats.
Santa's Crunch
- Melt white candy melts in microwave according to package directions. Add vegetable oil; stir to combine.
- Place popcorn in large bowl. Add Cheerios, Rice Chex, pretzels, and peanuts on top of popcorn.
- Pour melted candy melts over popcorn ingredients; stir to thoroughly coat.
- Dump onto piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle on M&M's and Santa Hats. Allow to set.
- Store in airtight container or package for gift giving. (See Note 6)
- Yield: 14 cups.
Tips/Notes
- Can also use white nonpareils or white jimmies.
- Can also use pretzel sticks or mini-pretzels.
- Can also use salted peanuts, toasted almonds or toasted pecans.
- I used dark chocolate Christmas M&M's. However, you can use whatever flavor of M&M's you like.
- May need to reheat the candy melts.
- The Santa's Crunch will stay fresh for a week if stored in an airtight container.
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