Chex

I adore Chex mix.  Well, specifically, I adore homemade Chex mix.  Every year at Christmas, my mom and my grandmother make a great classic Chex mix, but the one I really love is "muddy buddies", aka, Chex coated with chocolate and peanut butter, rolled in powdered sugar.  You may also know this as "puppy chow".  Don't judge it by the name, I promise you, this stuff is sooo addicting.  I'm also generally a fan of whatever other sweet varieties my mom makes, and, she likes to experiment with these, so I've tried quite a few.

In fact, I'm pretty sure I never had commercially made Chex mix until recently.  Conclusion?  The ones my mom makes at home are much better.  Oh, and Chex Chips?  Also not a winner, but, interesting.

Chex Chips

Did you know that Chex makes ... chips?  I didn't either.

They are marketed as a healthier alternative to classic potato chips, made from wheat.  Available in 3 savory flavors (caramelized onion, cheddar jalapeño, and wasabi), and one sweet (cinnamon and sugar).

Cheddar Jalapeño.

I opened my bag and was a bit surprised.  They did indeed look just like Chex, except, super sized.

The texture however wasn't like classic Chex, they were puffier, lighter.  They reminded me of Bugles (which, interestingly, is made by the same parent company, General Mills).

I almost liked these.  The flavor was actually pretty good, cheesy and spicy.  The flavor lingered, not in a bad way.  But ... at the end of the day, I wanted either Chex mix, or I wanted chips, not this strange hybrid in the middle, that was just a little too light to be interesting.

Traditional Chex

Traditional Chex Mix.

This is your classic Chex mix, containing pumpernickle chips, wavy sticks, two shapes of pretzels, and two varieties of Chex.

The pretzels came in two shapes, a ring or a grid, but tasted the same, generic, kinda buttery, not interesting.  The chips were my favorite part, crunchy, but there were not many of them.  I have no idea what the wavy sticks were, but they were an interesting shape at least?  They seemed perhaps garlicky?  The Chex was … just Chex.

Overall, this was really disappointing, it was salty, but otherwise had no flavor.  I love Chex Mix, but a classic homemade mix with Worcheshire is just so much better.  Maybe I'm just more used to the versions my Mom and grandmother each make, but this just seemed soooo plain!  I really wanted more flavor.

Simply Chex

Simply Chex® is their healthier line of products, boasting 60-70% less fat than potato chips.

Simply Chex: Chocolate Caramel.

The chocolate caramel is a mix of, you guess it, chocolate covered and caramel covered Chex pieces.  There was an even distribution of both flavors.

I was excited for this mix, and it sounded quite decadent, but actually, it was far more restrained than I expected.  While the Chex pieces did have both caramel and chocolate coating, the coating was very light.  There was a slight chocolate flavor to the chocolate version, a slight caramel flavor to the caramel version, but overall, it wasn't nearly as sweet or coated as I wanted.

I guess they are trying to make this a bit healthier than the versions I'd make at home, as package was only 120 calories. But uh, I wanted a decadent sugar bomb, not a healthy treat!

Simply Chex: Strawberry Yogurt.

Next up, another sweet one: strawberry yogurt.  The strawberry yogurt mix contains 3 different types of Chex: a light and a dark colored one, each with slightly strawberry seasoning, and a third white one, actually coated in strawberry yogurt, like the ones pictured in center of the photo on the bag.  That final one was the only one with real flavor, and was my favorite, but my bag contained exactly 2 of them.  2!

The mix was overall very disappointing.  I like the crunch, the strawberry flavor was nice when I was able to taste it, but overall, there was just not enough flavoring, and it was not nearly sweet or decadent enough.  Again, healthy Chex mix just isn't my thing I guess.   

Simply Chex: Cheddar.

A finally, I tried a savory version: cheddar.

This mix contains two different types of Chex, each with a slight cheddar coating.  Like the others, I wished there was more coating, but the cheddar was much stronger than the sweet coatings.

I tend to like all varieties of Chex mix, sweet or savory, but this one didn't quite do it for me.  It was crunchy, it was fun to nibble on, and the cheddar flavor was actually pretty good, but somehow cheddar on Chex doesn't quite work for me.  I didn't dislike it exactly, and easily finished the bag, but I wouldn't get it again.