If you’re looking for the perfect snack to take to your next Valentine’s Day function, have I got a quick and easy treat for you! This Chex mix, like so many of the recipes on this site, starts with a boxed cake mix.
Delicious Sweet Treats for Valentine’s Day
If you’ve followed me any length of time you know that I am crazy about Valentine’s Day. For years I’ve been baking sweet treats like my Valentine’s Cut-Out Sugar Cookies, Buttercream Cookies, Easy Red Velvet Truffles, and so on.
I’ve been on a roll posting other sweet Valentine’s treat, like my Valentine Cookie Bars. But today I want to share the simplest treat of all. . .Strawberry Valentine Chex Mix.
Chex Mix. . .the Versatile Treat!
Chex Mix has to be one of the most versatile treats around. For such a simple, bland cereal, it’s really making the rounds as a base for sweet and savory treats.
Take my Easy Chex Scotcheroos. Or my Oven-Baked Chex Mix. Then there’s my Puppy Chow. Yum.
Chex is especially good because the tiny holes “hold” whatever flavors you add. In this case we’re going to add melted almond bark and dry cake mix.
Heat-Treating Unbaked Cake Mix
Let’s deal with the elephant in the room right off the bat. After years of folks eating raw cake batter and cookie dough, we’ve learned that it’s not just the eggs that can cause upset tummies. It’s also the uncooked flour.
This recipe calls for one cup of cake mix but it needs to be heat-treated before use. Place it in a microwave-safe bowl and cook on high in the microwave for a full minute. Cool and stir to break up any clumps.
Now that we have that behind us. . .
Let’s take a peek at the ingredients you’ll need for this sweet Valentine’s Day Treat.
Strawberry Valentine Chex Mix Ingredients
You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. For now, here’s a quick peek at what you’ll need. These are simple ingredients you can find at your local grocery store.
- Chex Mix (I used rice and corn because that’s what I had on hand.)
- almond bark (or white chocolate chips)
- coconut oil or vegetable oil (not pictured)
- pink coloring gel (optional, not pictured)
- dry strawberry cake mix (heat treated, see instructions below)
- M&Ms
- Valentine sprinkles
Note: Rice Chex cereals have less flavor, so they’re a great option if you only want to use one kind.
How to Make this Easy Chex Treat
Place Chex cereal in a large bowl.
Heat treat your cake mix. Place in a small microwave-safe bowl and heat for a full minute on high in the microwave.
Another way to heat-treat your cake mix: Spread on a baking sheet (lined in parchment paper) and toast at 350°F for 5 minutes.
Allow to cool and stir well. Set aside.
Break your almond bark into squares. Place in separate small microwave-safe bowl. Add vegetable oil.
Melt in 30 second intervals, stirring between. Mine took 1 1/2 minutes – 2 minutes to fully melt.
Add a dot of coloring gel to your melted white chocolate and stir until smooth.
Pour chocolate mixture over cereal and stir well.
It’s time to add your heat-treated cake mix. Stir it into the chocolate coated cereal while chocolate is still soft. Mix well.
Add your sprinkles next. Stir well.
Add M&M or other candies. Stir well.
Allow to fully cool down before you place this sweet treat in an airtight container. I happened to have the perfect box, heart-shaped.
I can’t wait to pass this off to my grandkids! They’re going to love it!
What to Expect from this Recipe
First of all. . .wow! It’s so easy. I’m currently on Weight Watchers and can’t eat sugar, but y’all. . .I had to have one piece, just to taste test. (Hey, I have to make sure it’s good before sharing the recipe with you!)
Delicious. The chocolate causes the soft strawberry powder to form a coating that’s simply out of this world. (Gotta love that strawberry flavor!)
And those delicious candies and Valentine’s Day sprinkles? Well, they’re the icing on the cake! (Is there anything prettier than a Valentine m&m?
Variations on this Recipe
I loved this exactly as I made it but there are other options you can choose. Here are a few:
Strawberry candy melts. Some people use strawberry melts and skip the cake mix altogether.
Strawberry Cream pudding mix. Other recipes call for white almond bark coated in a box of strawberry creme jell-o pudding. As long as you’re using instant pudding you won’t need to heat treat it.
Powdered sugar in place of cake mix: This is an easy option, as well. You won’t have the strawberry flavor, though. You could always throw in a few freeze dried strawberries.
Jelly beans: Out of M&Ms? No worries! Just add jelly beans!
Salty element: You can add some tiny pretzel twists to the cereal if you want a salty addition. I personally love that idea! Valentine Snack mix, anyone?
Mini-Marshmallows: If you really want to take this treat over the top, add a half cup of miniature marshmallows.
Other Valentine Treats from Out of the Box Baking
We got lots of taste Valentine’s options! Here are some favorites:
Easy Valentine Treats for Kids: Looking for easy Valentine Treats for Kids this year? We’ve got them for you, here at Out of the Box Baking!
Valentine Sugar Cookies: In this easy tutorial you’ll see lots of samples for hand-painting Valentine cookies.
Heart-Shaped Cake without Heart Pan: You’ve got a hankering to make a heart-shaped cake but you don’t have a set of heart shaped pans. What do you do? In this easy tutorial I’m going to show you how to take a round pan and a square pan and turn them into a lovely heart-shaped cake you’ll be proud to serve.
How to Decorate Valentine Heart Cookies: If you love a tasty sugar cookie with an absolutely lovely Valentine’s Day design, you’ve come to the right place! These delicious sugar cookies are tasty on their own, but with this beautiful design they’re going to wow that special someone!
That’s it for this post! I hope you enjoyed this sweet Chex mix recipe. (It’s a family favorite and the perfect school snack for the grands!)
See this recipe at
Busy Monday
About the Author
Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 150 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.
Strawberry Valentine Chex Mix
Crisp, delicious, and so simple to make! This colorful Chex mix is perfect for Valentine's Day!
Ingredients
- 6 cups Chex Mix (I used rice and corn because that's what I had on hand.)
- 1 pound almond bark
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or vegetable oil (not pictured)
- pink coloring gel (optional, not pictured)
- 1 cup dry strawberry cake mix (heat treated, see instructions below)
- 1 cup M&Ms
- 1/2 cups sprinkles
Instructions
- Place Chex cereal in a large bowl.
- Heat treat your cake mix. Place in a small microwave-safe bowl and heat for a full minute on high in the microwave.
- Another way to heat-treat your cake mix: Spread on a cookie sheet (lined in parchment paper) and toast at 350°F for 5 minutes.
- Allow to cool and stir well. Set aside.
- Break your almond bark into squares. Place in separate small microwave-safe bowl. Add vegetable oil.
- Melt in 30-second increments, stirring between. Mine took 1 1/2 minutes - 2 minutes to fully melt.
- Add a dot of coloring gel and stir until smooth.
- Pour chocolate mixture over cereal and stir well.
- It's time to add your heat-treated cake mix. Stir it into the chocolate coated cereal while chocolate is still soft.
- Mix well.
- Add your sprinkles next. Stir well.
- Add M&M or other candies. Stir well.
- Allow to fully cool down before you place this sweet treat in an airtight container. I happened to have the perfect box, heart-shaped.
Janetta
Sunday 19th of March 2023
Perfect for a party!
What's for Dinner? Sunday Link up #404 - The Lazy GastronomeThe Lazy Gastronome
Sunday 29th of January 2023
[…] Strawberry Valentine Chex Mix – Out of the Box Baking […]
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome
Friday 27th of January 2023
Thanks for sharing at our What's for Dinner party! Hope your week has been great - come back again this Sunday for the new party too!
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Wednesday 25th of January 2023
[…] 1. Strawberry Valentine Chex Mix […]
Joanne
Monday 23rd of January 2023
This looks delicious!