Churro Chex mix

Every winter, my friends on Long Island throw a huge party.  Each year, as of late, it has had a theme.  Two years ago?  It was a summer themed party (remember these Piña Colada cupcakes I made for it?), last year was Oktoberfest themed (my desserts did not match the theme at all), and this year it's Cinco de Mayo themed.  Since Cinco de Mayo themed desserts can be pretty awesome (tres leches...churro....Mexican chocolate...margarita....Yes, to all of them!), I figured it would be easy to arrive to the party with an arsenal of delicious Cinco de Mayo treats!

First up?  Churro Chex mix.  I guess technically they're muddy buddies, but I just like the sound of churro Chex Mix better.  This recipe actually came about by a serious of errors.  The recipe called for cinnamon chips.  I even had them!  See, I can't find them at my local grocery store, but they sell them at -- of all places -- the Hershey's Store in Times Square.  So if I ever find myself in that touristy area of the city, and if the line isn't too long, I pick up a bag or two.  Unless it's swamped with tourists and has a long line, in which case, I skip it.  Which is precisely what happened when I was there the past two times.  But I digress.  I had 2 bags in my cabinet, and even though it was past the "best by" date, I figured I try them.  Simply put?  They did not work.  But as they were not melting, I noticed that they were probably cinnamon flavored white chocolate chips.  So I set up with batch number two, this time using white chocolate chips and a heaping half tablespoon of cinnamon.  This time, though, the butter and white chocolate wouldn't fully combine, so instead of tossing batch number two, I poured off as much of the butter as I could.  Problem solved!  (If you don't feel like going though the task of melting -- and then disposing of -- a stick of butter, you can skip that step and look for the cheat in the recipe below).  The result is a cinnamon-y delicious addictive Chex mix!

Churro Chex Mix (aka Triple Cinnamon Chex Mix)
adapted from this recipe from Oh, Sweet Basil

Ingredients:

1 regular sized box of cinnamon chex (about 8 cups)
2 cups of white chocolate chips
1 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon, divided
1/2 cup butter
1 cup powered sugar
1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

Place the cereal in a large bowl.
Cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and begin to melt it down halfway.
Add the chocolate chips.
Stir until combined.
Add a heaping 1/2 Tbsp of cinnamon.
Drain any butter that is not incorporated.

*Alternately, you can melt 2 Tbsp butter with the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring inbetween, until fully incorporated.  If you do this, I would add 1 tsp of ground cinnamon instead of the heaping 1/2 Tbsp. *

Meanwhile, gently stir together the powdered sugar, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl.
Set aside.

Once the chips are all melted (and the butter drained), pour over the cereal.
Fold with a rubber spatula to coat.
Then add half of the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Continue folding to coat.
Spread out on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.
Toss to coat.

All to cool on the baking tray before packaging up (if there's any left....have I mentioned how addictive this it?!).