Valentine Chex Crunch is a perfect treat for any special person on your Valentine’s Day list. It’s made like my Old-Fashioned Caramel Corn but with Corn Chex in place of the popcorn. To dress it up for Valentine’s Day, I added some toasted pecans and red, pink and white M&Ms. Valentine Chex Crunch is totally addictive and makes memorable edible gifts for your special Valentines.
You won’t believe how easy it is to make this delectable Valentine treat. The caramel only takes minutes to make, and the Valentine Chex Crunch is slow cooked for the extra crispy crunch in every bite.
Follow along step by step on how I made this addictive Valentine’s treat.
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Ingredients
For the caramel, I use unsalted butter, light brown sugar, light corn syrup, salt, baking soda and vanilla extract. That’s poured over Corn Chex and toasted pecans. For the Valentine’s Day theme, I add red, pink and white M&Ms.
Making the Caramel
Before making the caramel, I lightly toasted the pecans in a 350° F oven for 10 minutes. When the pecans had cooled, I added them to the Corn Chex in a large bowl.
For the caramel, I stirred the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a small saucepan over medium high heat (Photo 1).
Once the butter had melted and the mixture had come to a boil, I lowered the heat to medium low. I let the caramel mixture continue to boil without stirring for five minutes (Photo 2).
After five minutes, I removed the pan from the heat, and added the baking soda and vanilla extract (Photo 3). I stirred the caramel to ensure that the baking soda and vanilla were well incorporated (Photo 4).
Finishing the Valentine Chex Crunch
Once the caramel was ready, I quickly poured it on the Corn Chex and pecans.
I quickly stirred the mixture with a wooden spoon to coat the Corn Chex and pecans.
Then, I dumped the mixture into a large disposable aluminum roasting pan and evenly spread the mixture. I didn’t worry too much at this point about making sure that everything was well coated.
Next, I placed the Valentine Chex Crunch into a preheated 250° F oven for an hour.
Every 15 minutes during the hour, I removed the roasting pan from the oven, and stirred the mixture to ensure that the Corn Chex and pecans were well coated.
After giving the Valentine Chex Crunch one last stir, I dumped it onto a piece of parchment paper so that it could completely cool.
I broke up any large clumps, tasting some of the pieces along the way!
Once the Valentine Chex Crunch had cooled completely, I added the red, pink and white M&M’s.
Talk about good! It had the perfect amount of sweetness, and the pecans were incredible. Yum!
Chula’s Expert Tips
- While I like to use Corn Chex in this recipe, feel free use Rice Chex, Wheat Chex or Quaker Brown Sugar Oatmeal Squares.
- I always toast pecans in my recipes. To toast the pecans, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully to ensure that the pecans don’t burn.
- I generally use unsalted butter in my recipes. However, you can also use salted butter. However, if you use salted butter, reduce the amount of salt to 1/4 teaspoon.
- I always weigh my ingredients. For example, the actual quantity of brown sugar can vary greatly depending on how one packs it. Therefore, my rule-of-thumb is 1 cup of packed brown sugar weighs 7.5 ounces.
- This recipe is easily adapted for different holidays by varying the color of the M&M’s. For Mardi Gras, use green, purple and yellow M&Ms. For Easter, use pastel colored M&M’s. For the 4th of July, use red, white and blue M&M’s. For Halloween, use autumn colored M&M’s. For Christmas, use red and green M&Ms.
- The reason that I use a disposable roasting pan is that I don’t want to bother with cleaning the hardened caramel from a regular pan. Feel free, however, to use any large pan. Just make sure that it’s large enough to easily hold all of the mixture.
- It’s important to store this in an airtight container. The reason is that the sugars are hygroscopic. What this means is that they absorb moisture and can make the Valentine Chex Crunch sticky.
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Valentine Chex Crunch
Ingredients
- 12 ounce package Corn Chex, about 10-1/2 to 11 cups (See Tip 1)
- 2 cups (8 ounces, 226 grams) whole pecans, lightly toasted (See Tip 2)
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces, 113 grams) unsalted butter (See Tip 3)
- 3/4 cup (5.625 ounces, 160 grams) light brown sugar, packed (See Tip 4)
- 6 Tablespoons (4.125 ounces, 117 grams )light corn syrup
- 3/4 teaspoon table salt
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (6.8 ounces, 196 grams) red, pink and white M&M’s (See Tip 5)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- Add Corn Chex to large bowl; add toasted pecans on top. Do not stir. Set aside.
- Heat the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until butter is melted. Reduce heat to medium low; cook, undisturbed and uncovered, for 5 minutes.
- Remove saucepan from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla extract.
- Pour the caramel over the Corn Chex and pecans; quickly stir to coat.
- Spread the mixture onto an ungreased large disposable aluminum roasting pan. Bake for one hour, removing every 15 minutes to stir. (See Tip 6)
- Spread the mixture onto parchment paper to cool. It may seem sticky at first but will dry as it cools.
- Once cool, add M&M's.
- Store in airtight container. (See Tip 7)
- Yield: About 15 cups.
Chula's Expert Tips
- May also use Rice, Wheat Chex or Quaker Brown Sugar Oatmeal Squares.
- To toast pecans, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully.
- May also use salted butter. However, if you use salted butter, reduce the amount of salt to 1/4 teaspoon.
- The actual quantity of brown sugar can vary greatly depending on how one packs it. Therefore, I always weigh the brown sugar. My rule-of-thumb is 1 cup of packed brown sugar weighs 7.5 ounces.
- This recipe is easily adapted for different holidays by varying the color of the M&M's. For Mardi Gras, use green, purple and yellow M&Ms. For Easter, use pastel colored M&M's. For the 4th of July, use red, white and blue M&M's. For Halloween, use autumn colored M&M's. For Christmas, use red and green M&Ms.
- The reason that I use a disposable roasting pan is that I don't want to bother with cleaning the hardened caramel from a regular pan. Feel free, however, to use any large pan. Just make sure that it's large enough to easily hold all of the mixture.
- It's important to store this in an airtight container. The reason is that the sugars are hygroscopic. What this means is that they absorb moisture and can make the Valentine Chex Crunch sticky.
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