Chocolate Caramel Chex Clusters

The boyfriend has started asking for Chex mix about 2 weeks ago, something about Fall and the impending holiday season. Chex mix, especially homemade, is dangerous to have in the house (in fact, I'm pretty sure we ate half a stick of butter yesterday, in Chex mix alone). I even just like the way the Chex cereal tastes plain. I did not want to have a bunch of half full Chex boxes around, so I decided in addition to the deliciously addictive classic Chex mix that I would make a salty-sweet (and it turns out even more dangerous) concoction. This is like a cross between caramel corn and muddy buddies, and it is so amazing I had to have the boyfriend pry it from hands and hide it. If you like salty sweet combinations, you have to try this, now. It only takes about 10 minutes to make and there is no baking. Enjoy!

Chocolate Caramel Chex Clusters:
4 cups of chex (rice or corn)
5 cups of popped popcorn
1 cup of pretzels
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup of dark brown sugar
1/2 cup of light corn syrup
2 1/2 tbsps of butter
1 tsp of salt

Spray a 9 by 13 inch baking dish with non stick spray. Mix together the Chex, popcorn, pretzels, and chocolate chips in the dish. In a small pan, heat sugar, corn syrup and butter over high medium heat until melted, raise heat and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until the a dark brown, but still liquid caramel forms, about 4 minutes. Add in salt, then pour caramel mixture over the Chex mixture and stir until the caramel is coating all the mixture and the chocolate has melted. Press the mixture down into the pan, and then allow to cool for 30 minutes. Break up into chunks. Store in a air tight container.

Happy Eating.