Praline Pecan Crunch Snack Mix

Once upon a time when I was a little girl, my family bought a couple boxes of Quaker Oats Oatmeal Squares cereal. I don't remember why, but for some reason either my mom, my dad, or my grandmother had. Why is that so weird for us? Well you see, my maternal grandparents both worked for Kellogg's (shhh...don't tell my dad I actually said that. The "K" word was always jokingly referred to as a swearword in our household) and my dad worked for, and still does to this day for that matter, Post. So that is why I say I have no idea why someone would buy a Quaker Oats brand of cereal. Anywho, that is besides the point. The point is that with this cereal came a recipe on the box and one afternoon my abuelita (and my dad?) whipped up this snack and it was one of the most amazing things I ever had. I believe we ended up making it once or twice but then it was forgotten about. Over the years, I would walk down the cereal aisle, look dreamily at the Oatmeal Squares box and long for not only a bowlful of one of my ultime favorite cereals but also to taste that sweet snack once again. But alas, I could not for two reasons. 1) Oatmeal Squares are always so expensive (about $5 for a small box!) and 2) the recipe was no longer featured and our family certainly didn't have it. The only thing that I could remember was that it involved an oven, the cereals, nuts of some sort, and corn syrup.

About a year and a half ago, when Brad and I were settling in nicely to our (then) new apartment, I made sure that we bought corn syrup with the hopes of someday I would run across the recipe somewhere in my or my abuelita's files. Well I wasn't so lucky bu let me tell ya, this past year or so has been wonderful in the cereal world. Why do you ask? Well because my Oatmeal Squares have been on-sale numerous times! Anywhere from 2/$4 to buy one, get one free. So whenever this happens, I buy a couple and try not to get too possesive and let my husband eat a couple bowls too. One day I decided that enough was enough and that I was going to scour the internet for this recipe. I even purposefully bought one box just for the sweet snack. Well time went buy and I eventually succumed to Brad's pleading and the last box of Oatmeal squares was opened. Guess what happened then? I found the recipe within a day or so of opening the box. Grrr... (just kidding, I wasn't all that mad) So we waited and waiting and finally my cereal went on sale again! But then we had to move....so we waited again. And today I finally decided to make the mix for our small group tonight.

So anyway, even though I had searched their website before, I did end up finding the "Praline Pecan Crunch Snack Mix" on Quaker Oats' site. Also, I remembered that when I was a little girl, I liked the pieces without the nuts much better which is why I didn't go buy any pecans once I realized that that was my one missing ingredient. However, after trying the mix without the pecans, I kind of wish we had had them. I know, I know, I need to make up my mind already. With that said, I should probably go on to actually give you the recipe now since you have been waiting so patiently huh?

Praline Pecan Crunch Snack Mix
by Quaker Oats
Ingredients

• 8 cups Quaker Oatmeal Squares Cereal, Brown Sugar or Cinnamon
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons margarine (70% vegetable oil spread in sticks)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 250°F. Spray 13 x 9-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Combine cereal and pecans in pan; set aside.
2. In 4-cup microwaveable bowl, combine corn syrup sugar and vegetable oil spread. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave 30 seconds to 1 minute 30 seconds or until boiling.
3. Stir vanilla and baking soda into mixture. Pour over cereal mixture; stir to coat evenly.
4. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Spread on baking sheet and cool completely; break into pieces. Store tightly covered.