Nuts and Bolts

Nuts and Bolts, or Bits and Bites as some people call this, is a tasty mix of toasted cereals, pretzels, crackers and nuts, perfect for snacking.

I have no idea why we make this around Christmas time but it seems a lot of us do. And everyone has their own version. Which is great, so by making your own you get exactly what you like. Or maybe not so great. Because, warning, Nuts and Bolts are highly addictive!

I was actually given this recipe in 1983 by a coworker. It was tucked away in a recipe book and I found it years later, having never made it. I’ve only tweaked her recipe a bit over the years by adding a bit more seasoning. You may want to adjust the amounts for your own taste, but I wouldn’t recommend using any less than 4 tsp each or more than 6 of the seasoning mixture.

What goes in Nuts and Bolts?

It doesn’t really matter what combination of snacks you use to make Nuts and Bolts. The most important thing is to have a good variety and to use snacks you like. I prefer a combination of a rice cereal, oat cereal, pretzels, peanuts and lots of cheesy crackers like Cheese Bits, Cheese Nips and even Cheesy Fish! Many people use Shreddies. I prefer something less sweet because I find they don’t pair well with cheese crackers, however if you’re not using cheesy options in your mix, the Shreddies are good! Mixed nuts are nice too if you feel like splurging.

You don’t want to break up the snacks while you’re stirring so just dump everything into a very large roasting pan to get started. Everything will get mixed up as you add the liquid and seasonings because you do this in stages and stir after each addition. Well, stirring isn’t exactly possible, it’s more of a folding technique. As long as you don’t overfill the roasting pan you should be able to accomplish coating and mixing without too much spillage. My friend Betty has a brilliant technique. She uses 2 roasting pans and pours the contents from pan to pan instead of stirring. Great idea!

The butter and oil mixture coats the dry ingredients, helping the seasonings stick. Since the butter and oil tend to float on top of the worcestershire, make sure to stir it well before each addition. Use a shaker if you have one to add the seasoning mixture to ensure it’s added evenly. Otherwise carefully sprinkle from a large spoon. Stir well, then pour about 1/4 of the butter and oil mixture over the dry ingredients. Shake about 1/4 of the seasoning over. Now gently fold from the outer edges in. Add another quarter of liquid (stir again) and seasoning and fold again. Continue until all the dry ingredients are coated evenly. Pour, sprinkle, stir. Repeat.

Bake your Nuts and Bolts in an oven set around 225 degrees and stir every 15 minutes for about an hour. Don’t worry if the mixture looks like there’s too much oil. It will dry out as it bakes. Be patient. Turn the oven up to 250 and bake up to one more hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Be patient. After the last stir, turn off the oven and leave in for about 15 more minutes. Remove and stir one last time. Everything should be nicely toasted. Allow to cool and store in tins or plastic containers.

Nuts and Bolts don’t need to be refrigerated. They stay fresh if you keep them in a cookie tin or a large sealed container or freezer bag. But they don’t last long anyway. At least not in my house.

If you make nuts and bolts, feel free to share your favourite snack mixture in the comments below. You’ll notice I haven’t included nutritional information because, let’s be honest, they’re so addictive it’s hard to know how much you’ve eaten! Here’s the recipe:

Nuts and Bolts

Also called Bits and Bites, a popular snack mix of roasted cereals, pretzels, crackers and nuts

4.67 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Snack

Cuisine American, Canadian

Servings 1 large roasting pan

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 C melted butter
• 1 C vegetable or canola oil
• 6 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 5 tsp celery salt
• 5 tsp onion powder
• 5 tsp garlic powder
• 1 box regular sized Cheerios or other oat cereal
• 1 box regular sized Rice Chex or other rice cereal some people like shreddies
• 1 bag pretzel twists or sticks
• 1 jar peanuts or mixed nuts
• 1 box Cheese Nips crackers
• 1 box Cheese Bits
• 1 package Cheesy Fish

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 225° and set rack in middle setting.
• Empty all snacks into a large roasting pan.
• Melt butter in large measuring cup with pour spout. Stir in oil and Worcestershire sauce.
• Combine celery salt, onion powder and garlic powder in shaker or container and mix well.
• Pour ¼ of the oil mixture, stirring the mixture well to keep it blended, then sprinkle ¼ of the seasoning evenly over top of cereal mix. Stir cereal mixture gently using a folding technique, bringing mixture from bottom of the pan to the top. Repeat with the rest of the oil and seasoning in 3 more stages until everything is coated as evenly as possible.
• Bake for an hour, stirring every 15 or 20 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 250° and bake another 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so until cereal mixture is dry and slightly toasted. Turn oven off and leave in for one more 15 minute time span.
• Allow to cool, stirring a few times during cooling, before storing in airtight containers or zipper top freezer bags.

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