Monkey Mix

After watching that train wreck of a family, Jon & Kate Plus 8, in their early episodes where Kate is making Monkey Munch, I always wanted to try it.  The name alone sounded fun.  Well, I finally got around to Googleing it and found several hundred links.  Below is the original recipe.  I do urge you to read my notes because I have some awesome suggestions.

The result is a coating of peanut butter and chocolate deliciousness.  My pregnant neighbour ate a whole bowl!  It's tastes AWESOME!

Ingredients:

• 9 cups Chex cereal (any kind)


• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted (6oz.)


• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, melted


• 1/4 cup butter, melted


• 1 -2 teaspoon vanilla


• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Measure cereal in large bowl.


2. Set aside.


3. Microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter for 1 minute on high.


4. Stir.


5. Cook for 30 seconds longer or until smooth.


6. Add vanilla.


7. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until coated.


8. Pour mixture into large Ziploc bag and add powdered sugar.


9. Shake until well coated.


10. Spread on waxed paper to cool.


11. Store in Ziploc bags or large sealed bowl.

My notes:

• I used a bunch of different cereals, nuts, and pretzels to make up the 9-cups of Chex as in the original recipe:

1. 4-cups Quaker Corn Bran Squares since no Chex USA style up here. If you use Crispex like in my Snack Mix Recipe it will just break up and you're left with a bunch of crumbs


2. 2-cups Multi-Grain Cheerios


3. 2-cups pretzels (to get a sweet and salty flavour)


4. 2-cups Shreddies (trying to add fiber where I can)

• I used milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet because that's all I had on hand.  It still tasted awesome.


• Try using Nutella instead of peanut butter


• Instead of Chocolate Chips, try using Butterscotch chips, or even White Chocolate Chips


• I used parchment paper instead of wax because that's all I had on hand.


• Maybe some dried cranberries?


• 1-cup nuts (I like the crunch of nuts.  You can try peanuts, almonds, cashews, etc)


• Someone suggested not using butter, which I tried using less, but the mixture was too thick.  The butter makes it more liquidy and easier to spread over the cereal mixture


• If you don't have a big ziplock bag, use small ones (just more hassle though since you have to do batches).  Try using a paper bag with the seams at the bottom taped up.  Or just keep it in big bowls and toss to mix the powered sugar


• I tried using 1-cup of powdered sugar, but gradually added a bit more 1/4 cup at a time until all my chocolate was coated

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