A sweet and savory gourmet party mix recipe made with maple, rum, pecans and spices. This homemade party mix is crispy crunchy and so addictive! But don’t worry–I’ve put my special healthy twist on it.

Brown Butter Maple Rum Party Mix recipe in a bowl

This Brown Butter Party Mix recipe has been adapted from a recipe in the book, Winter Cocktails, by Maria Del Mar Sacasa.

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Why We Love This Recipe For Brown Butter Maple Rum Party Mix

This party snack mix is a fast, delicious and unexpected version of Chex mix. It’s the perfect salty snack to serve alongside cocktails at a party, for game day or a holiday event. It has just the right level of sweetness to balance the saltiness, and I love the tiny bit of rum flavor left after baking it for an hour. It really goes well with the maple and pecans.

Recipe Highlights

  • The best part of this gourmet party mix recipe is that it will last you the whole week.
  • Most of the cooking time required for this recipe is passive, which means you’ll have to do very little work!
  • If stored properly it will keep for 2 to 3 weeks.
Brown Butter Maple Rum Party Mix recipe in a bowl

Key Ingredients For This Recipe

  • Cereal or Chex: I decided to use an organic cereal instead of Chex. I was worried that there would be texture issues, but it worked really well.
  • Pecans: Make sure you get raw pecans that haven’t been roasted in any seasonings or sweeteners. You could swap out the pecans for dark chocolate or pumpkin seeds if a nut allergy is present.
  • Pretzels: You could use whole-wheat pretzels or gluten-free pretzels if you’d like.
  • Bagel Crisps: For a healthier option, use trans-fat-free bagel crisps.
  • Unsalted Butter: The original recipe called for 12 tablespoons of butter but I dropped it to 6. You could use salted butter as well if you’d like.
  • Dark pure maple syrup: I used pure dark maple syrup instead of the brown sugar that the original recipe called for. I love using natural sweeteners where I can, and I also just love the way maple tastes.
  • Dark Rum: Dark rum really brings the flavors of this together. If you don’t have dark rum you could use Bourbon instead.
  • Spice Seasoning: The seasonings I used were cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. To make sure you can still taste the nuance of the maple, don’t add much extra spice than the recipe calls for, if any.

Step-by-Step Instructions to Make This Gourmet Party Mix recipe

Step 1: Preheat oven

Arrange the oven racks evenly in the upper and lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F and coat two large rimmed baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.

Step 2: Mix dry ingredients

Mix the cereal, pecans, pretzels and bagel crisps in a large bowl.

Step 3: Assemble & bake maple party mix

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally until the milk solids brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the browned butter from the heat and carefully pour in the maple syrup and rum (careful, the mixture will bubble). Whisk in the cinnamon, ginger, salt and cloves. Pour the butter mixture over the cereal mixture and stir to coat. Spread the party mix out on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the party mix is dry and the nuts are fragrant, stirring every 15 minutes or so, for about 1 hour. Let it cool before transferring it to an airtight container, about 1 hour.

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Brown Butter Maple Rum Party Mix recipe in a bowl

FAQs and Expert Tips

Storing instructions:

This homemade maple party mix tastes freshest when served within the first 2 to 3 days. However, if stored in airtight containers or sealable bags, it can stay good for up to 2 to 3 weeks. You can even freeze it for up to 3 months.

Make-ahead!

Since it has a longer shelf-life if stored properly, it’s a great make-ahead recipe! Just follow the storing steps above and set aside until ready to serve.

Variations to this recipe:

You could make it gluten-free by using gluten-free pretzels and bagel crisps. If you can’t find any gluten-free bagel crisps, swap it out for something else. You could also experiment by adding other nuts, such as almonds, peanuts, or cashews.

Other Party Snacks to Try

At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie

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Brown Butter Maple Rum Party Mix recipe

Brown Butter Maple Rum Party Mix

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  • Author: Katie Webster
  • Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
  • Yield: 10 cups 1x
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Description

Brown butter, maple, pecans and rum make this Chex party mix an unexpectedly sweet and savory.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 6 cups multigrain squares cereal or chex, about 12 ounces
  • 2 cups roughly chopped pecans
  • 2 cups bite-sized pretzels
  • 3 cups trans-fat free bagel crisps, broken into bite sized pieces
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup dark pure maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup dark rum
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Instructions

  1. Arrange oven racks evenly in upper and lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Coat two large rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray.
  2. Mix cereal, pecans, pretzels and bagel crisps in a large bowl.
  3. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally until the milk solids brown, 6 to 8 minnutes. Remove from heat, and carefully pour in maple syrup and rum (mixture will bubble.) Whisk in cinnamon, ginger, salt and cloves. Pour butter mixture over the cereal mixture, and stir to coat. Spread party mix out on the prepared bakng sheets. Bake, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until the party mix is dry and the nuts are fragrant, about 1 hour. Cool before transferring to air tight container, about 1 hour.

Notes

Cooking Tip: You could make it gluten-free by using gluten-free pretzels and bagel crisps. If you can’t find any gluten-free bagel crisps, swap it out for something else. You could also experiment by adding other nuts, such as almonds, peanuts, or cashews.

6 mg Cholesterol, 3.5 g Added Sugar

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/3 cup
  • Calories: 138
  • Sugar: 4 g
  • Sodium: 145 mg
  • Fat: 8 g
  • Saturated Fat: 2 g
  • Carbohydrates: 15 g
  • Fiber: 2.3 g
  • Protein: 2 g

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