Sweet and Salty Party Mix

I had a pampered chef party a week ago and made the Sweet & Salty Party Mix.  This is a delicious caramel corn with chex, pretzels & nuts.  DELICIOUS!!  It is a Pampered Chef recipe, that can easily be made gluten free by not using the pretzels (just replace with something else).  Enjoy!!

Sweet & Salty Party Mix (by Pampered Chef)

1 pkg (3-3.5 oz) microwave popcorn (about 5 cups popped)

2 cups minature pretzel twists

2 cups dry-roasted salted peanuts

2 cups oven-toasted rice cereal squares

1 cup butter  (2 sticks)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup corn syrup

1 tsp baking soda

Preheat over to 300. Prepare popcorn according to package directions.  In large bowl, combine popcorn, pretzels, peanuts and rice cereal squares, set aside.  Combine butter, brown sugar and corn-syrup in a 2 quart saucepan.  Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil.  Continue to cook without stirring for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, carefully stir in baking soda.

Pour caramel sauce over popcorn mixture.  Stir until evenly coated.  Spoon onto large pan, bake 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat.  Transfer popcorn mixture onto large parchment paper, cool completely.