This Santa Hat Party Mix Recipe is exactly what you need for your upcoming Christmas party! Learn to make cute little edible santa hats and a delicious holiday snack mix!
Christmas Party Mix Recipe
This Santa Hat Party Mix is one of those recipes that ALWAYS gets oohs and ahhs when you bring it out for guests or give as gifts.
Yes it does take a little extra effort to make those sweet little Santa Hats, but it’s the holidays! It’s not rocket science here…you dip Bugles into red melting candy and then dip the bottom in white sprinkles, and place a mini marshmallow on top! They turn out SUPER cute, don’t you agree?
The snack mix itself is VERY easy…I’ve made a video and have lots of step by step pictures to show you how it’s done!
I found these yummy Bugles at the store. They’re called Caramel Bugles and they boast the sweet and salty.
You could certainly use the regular Bugles, too, but what I found was so great about the caramel bugles, besides being incredible delicious and addictive was that they are coated in a sweet glaze which makes them a bit thicker and less fragile than regular Bugles…so keep that in mind.
Here’s what you’ll need…
Bugles
Red Melting disks
Mini marshmallows
White sprinkles (I used nonpareils)
How to Make The Best Holiday Snack Mix
Melt the candy melts, along with a tablespoon of shortening (to help thin the melted candy), in 30 second intervals on half power in your microwave until melted.
Immediately start dipping.
Let them set up for 10 minutes or so on parchment or wax paper.
When they are set, remelt the red candy disk (if necessary) and dip just the bottoms (the large part of the Bugle) into the white sprinkles.
Then flip it over and dip the top in the melted candy and press a mini marshmallow on top.
And voila…Bugle Santa Hats!
If you want to use the hats as an addition to a mix here’s an idea for a sweet and salty mix that’s easy and yummy.
Feel free to play around with the additions and make it your own!
- 3 cups mini pretzels
- 1/2 cup craisins
- 1 cup salted dry roasted peanuts
- 2 cups Rice Chex
- 2 cups holiday colored M&M’s
- 8 oz. white chocolate for melting
- Spread all your ingredients, EXCEPT M&M’s, out on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.
Melt your white chocolate according to package directions and drizzle over the pretzel mix.
Transfer into a large bowl and coat mix with chocolate.
Return to baking sheet to allow to dry.
When chocolate is set, sprinkle M&M’s and Bugle Santa Hats over the mix.
Transfer to big bowl to serve.
Santa Hat Party Mix!
or put in jars to give to your friends…
…or use as a peace offering when your game night doesn’t go as planned 😉
Hope your December is off to a great start!
Santa Hat Party Mix Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: About 9 cups 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Santa Hat Party Mix Recipe is exactly what you need for your upcoming Christmas party! Learn to make cute little edible santa hats and a delicious holiday snack mix!
Ingredients
Scale
Santa Hats
- Bugles ( I used Caramel Bugles, as they were slightly sturdier)
- Red Melting disks
- Mini marshmallows
- White sprinkles (I used nonpareils)
Snack Mix
- 3 cups mini pretzels
- 1/2 cup craisins
- 1 cup salted dry roasted peanuts
- 2 cups Rice Chex
- 2 cups holiday colored M&M’s
- 8 oz. white chocolate for melting
- Return to baking sheet to allow to dry.
- When chocolate is set, sprinkle M&M’s and Bugle Santa Hats over the mix.
- Transfer to big bowl to serve.
Instructions
Santa Hats
- Melt the candy melts, along with a tablespoon of shortening (to help thin the melted candy), in 30 second intervals on half power in your microwave until melted.
- Immediately start dipping.
- Let them set up for 10 minutes or so on parchment or wax paper.
- When they are set, remelt the red candy disk (if necessary) and dip just the bottoms (the large part of the Bugle) into the white sprinkles.
- Then flip it over and dip the top in the melted candy and press a mini marshmallow on top.
- Let dry on wax paper.
- Spread all your ingredients, EXCEPT M&M’s, out on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.
- Melt your white chocolate according to package directions and drizzle over the pretzel mix.
- Transfer into a large bowl and coat mix with chocolate.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 1520
- Sugar: 153.9 g
- Sodium: 324.9 mg
- Fat: 83.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 183.7 g
- Protein: 24.6 g
- Cholesterol: 21.6 mg
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Just made these, they are so cute! I had a really hard time getting the marshmallows to stick properly, and wondering what your secret was? I ended up having to dab a bit of melted candy on each tip and then sticking the marshmallow on. If I just stuck it on, it fell off.
Also, I could have never made these with the microwave melt method. The candy sets up quickly. I had to use a double boiler, and heartily recommend it for those who were experiencing problems with the candy not melting or being too thick. Even in the double boiler, I had to keep stirring every few minutes. And by the way, when I say double boiler, I mean a stainless steel mixing bowl on top of a saucepan of simmering water. 🙂 Nothing fancy here!
I adore snack/trail mix!!!! And just finished making this!!!! So yummy and so cute!!!! My hats didn’t turn out as coated and perfect as yours :-/ maybe next time!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Super cute! I need a cute tree nut free snack for my kids school Christmas party…obviously I would leave out the nuts…are the rest of the ingredients ok???
I believe they are!
Better check your labels! I have a niece with peanut allergies and the label on the melting disks says they are made in a factory where nuts are also used and therefore not safe! Nearly all Wilton products say that.
It’s a very serious allergy…life threatening!
If anyone has made this, could you let me know how long this will stay fresh? I am making it as a gift for teachers and bus drivers and wanted to see if I could make it over the weekend to give out this week coming up.
I found these on Pinterest a while back and finally had a reason to make them last night. They turned out awesome!!! Everyone was super-impressed and the kids loved them. Thank you!!!
Yay! SO glad everyone liked them!
I just made the santa hats, and they turned out so cute! A couple of things I did a little differently: **I selected Bugles that could stand on their own (not difficult).
**After the red set up, I dipped the bottom in melted white chocolate and then “Glitter Crystal” decorator sugar.
**After that set up, I did the same for the tip (instead of marshmallows).
Great tips!
This is such a great idea. Making this for my kid’s teachers and bus drivers. Any idea on how long this will stay fresh? Thanks.
Great idea! Cute! How long will this stay fresh for?
Awesome idea! How long will this stay fresh for?
Made these a few days ago and they are SO adorable! Thanks for such a creative idea! 🙂
http://www.toddlindsey.com/2012/12/santa-hat-chex-mix.html
Yours turned out so cute!!