Long before Chex Mix came in a bag from the grocery store, people were making it themselves, from scratch, in a paper grocery bag. (Well, that was one option…) This particular recipe dates back to 1952, right in time for the era when families started gathering together around televisions and needed to do some snacking. It’s called Nuts and Bolts because, well, the shapes look a little like something you’d find in a toolbox, and that name has stuck around for decades.

What Ingredients Do You Need for Nuts and Bolts?

• Wheat Chex, Corn Chex, and Rice Chex cereal.
• Cheerios.
• Thin pretzel sticks.
• Nuts of your choice, like peanuts or cashews.
• Butter and light olive oil.
• Worcestershire sauce.
• Liquid smoke.
• Tabasco sauce.
• Lawry’s seasoned salt.

Where Did Nuts and Bolts Come From?

Depending on where (and when) you grew up, you might know this as nuts and bolts, party mix, TV mix, or just plain Chex mix, but they all trace back to the same mid-century idea: toss some cereal, nuts, and pretzels in seasoned butter and let the oven do the rest. Chex cereal first hit shelves in 1942, and by the early 1950s a version of this recipe was popping up in Chex ads and eventually right on the back of the box. (Who actually came up with it is a little murky. The story usually involves someone connected to the Ralston Purina company in St. Louis, but the details change depending on who’s telling it!) Chex wasn’t even the first to try it, either. Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook had a buttery Kix cereal version with parmesan back in 1950.

As for why it took off, you can thank the television. As having a TV in the living room became more common, families were gathering around the TV together and they wanted something they could eat by the handful without missing a minute of the show. It didn’t hurt that one batch was cheap, easy, and made a mountain of snacks, which is also why it became such a popular homemade gift. Newspapers in the ’50s and ’60s were full of ideas for packing it into canisters, mugs, and even vases for the holidays. And if you’re wondering about the bagel chips in today’s versions, those early batches didn’t have them (or Corn Chex, for that matter). They leaned on seasoned salts like celery salt and onion salt instead, which were all the rage at the time.

How Do You Make Nuts and Bolts?

Combine all four cereals, pretzels, and nuts together in a large paper grocery bag. In a saucepan, melt the butter and oil together, then stir in the Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, and Tabasco. Slowly pour that mixture into the bag, shaking as you go so everything gets coated, then sprinkle the seasoned salt over the top and give the bag one more really good shake.

From there, bake low and slow at 225°F for a total of 3 hours, either in a large roasting pan, stirring every 45 minutes, or right in the paper bag on a baking sheet, shaking it every 30 minutes. Either way, the low temperature and long bake time are what give this its signature crunch without burning.