Growing up, my mom always made Aunt Becky’s Treat for us. Legend has it that my Aunt Becky gave her the recipe but I’ve never checked to see where my aunt came across it. We all loved this special snack and would beg Mom to make it. Below you can see the recipe from my mom. It’s a fact that you can trust a recipe card that’s spattered and smudged. That’s how you know it’s a good one!
My Version
Orginally the recipe called for Cheerios, oatmeal, pecans, and raisins. That’s how my mom made it and it’s great that way. I have a couple raisin haters at my house so I started leaving them out. Then I decided that pecans were too expensive for a kid’s snack so I didn’t add them. One day I started making a batch and found that I didn’t have enough Cheerios. I substitiuted Chex and our favorite version was discovered.
Another thing I changed was the ratio of spiced honey caramel mixture to cereal. I reduced the butter and honey and doubled the cereal. My recipe it more affordable and less sweet. It still makes plenty of caramel to coat the cereal and there’s more to go around. Having enough snacks is a big priority around here.
Frugal and Delicious
I always gave my kids snacks, usually fruit or some simple homemade thing. We had morning and afternoon snacks when they were little. It was important that whatever I served them was affordable. The changes I made to this recipe reduced the cost per serving.
Not only was it cheap, it was a great way to use up the remnants of cereal that collected in our pantry. We all end up with a collection of cereal bags with a few cups of slightly stale cereal in them. Don’t throw it out, make Aunt Becky’s Treat!
Aunt Becky’s Treat
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 6 cups of cereal, Cheerios and Chex are great
In an iron skillet melt the butter with the honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Bring it to a simmer, stirring constantly.
Pour in the cereal and stir well to coat it in the cinnamony-honey caramel. If it’s easier you can make the caramel in a saucepan then pour it over the cereal and mix it in a big bowl. Spread it out to bake on a big baking sheet. My life advice is to line your baking sheet with parchment. Whatever else is going on in your life, make sure you have parchment!
Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes so all the mixture gets good and toasted. Spread on parchment to cool. Store any leftover Aunt Becky’s Treat in an airtight container for as long as it last. Honestly, it won’t be that long unless you hide it somewhere!
If you want to have the best cereal in the world then eat this in a bowl with milk. Usually we just eat it as is and are very happy to do so!
