A dear friend of mine, Anne, sent me this recipe recently and I had to try it! She even was kind enough to send pics for me to blog the process since she knows how bad I am at remembering to take pictures. This treat is going to be a hit with family and friends! So you might want to consider making a double batch! (The pics below show a double batch.)

To start, gather all your ingredients because you will need them all at hand once the process starts. In a large ceramic or stainless bowl, combine some mini pretzels, Ritz Bits, and dry roasted peanuts and set aside. Also, spray a sheet pan (or two if doubling recipe) with cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium/large saucepan, combine and bring to boil some sugar, butter and corn syrup. Allow this to boil over medium heat for five minutes. No stirring necessary. However, be sure to get your baking soda and vanilla ready to go because you will be working quickly during the next couple of steps.

Note: Your mixture will foam in the next step so be sure your saucepan has enough room for this foaming reaction.

Once the mixture has boiled for five minutes, remove from heat and add some vanilla and baking soda. The baking soda will cause the mixture to foam up. Give it a good stir!

Working quickly, stir this hot mixture into the pretzel, Ritz Bits, peanut mixture. Stir well. Spread on the greased sheet pan(s).

Bake the mixture for 45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes.

The mixture will be gooey as you mix it each time. After about 45 minutes, you will notice its less gooey and coating the pretzels, crackers and peanuts.

Spread the mixture onto parchment or wax paper breaking apart any large clusters and allow to cool. Once cooled, add some M&M’s and candy corn.

Anne used the pretty Halloween M&Ms which I wasn’t even aware you could buy. I used regular M&Ms and will never forgive myself for this error! Her mix is so much prettier!!!!

Make a few bags of this Halloween Party Mix to give to family, friends or co-workers.

Or you can just place a large jar of it by the coffee maker at the office.

Note: Not only did I use regular colored M&Ms, I also used mini pretzel twists and Anne used pretzel sticks. In the future, I will go with the sticks. I think the twists cause more sticking/clumping together in the baking process which requires you to break apart the hot mix when spreading on the parchment paper.

Enjoy!

Thanks Anne for the wonderful recipe and pictures!