The Ferguson Recipes
| Nuts & Bolts - Mary's Version 🌄 💤 ⏳ |
| Nuts & Bolts - Recipe #1 🌄 💤 ⏳ |
| Oat Shortbread Cookies 🌄 💤 |
| Oat Shortbread Cookies (Another One) 🌄 💤 ⏳ |
| Oatmeal and Cottage Cheese Pancakes 🌄 💤 ⏳ |
| Oatmeal Cake 💤 |
| Oatmeal Pancakes With Bisquick 💤 ⏳ |
| Oatmeal Shortbread 🌄 💤 ⏳ |
Ingredients
1 lb. butter (not margarine)
6 - 7 TBS. Worcestershire sauce
4 tsp. garlic powder
2 (heaping) TBS. Lawrey's Seasoning Salt (I find it is too salty with heaping, but some people like that much.)
⅛ - ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Cereal:
6 oz. Cheerios (about 6 cups)
A total of 9 oz. (or 9 cups) of your favorite "chex" cereals**.
4 oz. Corn Chex® (about 2 cups)
4 oz. Rice Chex® (about 2 cups)
1 oz. Wheat Chex® (about 1 cup)
9 - 10 oz. pretzel sticks. Thin sticks work best. If you use regular sticks, use maybe 9 ounces and break them in half.
A total of 24 oz. (about 5 cups) of nuts ††.
I used to use:
6 - 7 TBS. Worcestershire sauce
4 tsp. garlic powder
2 (heaping) TBS. Lawrey's Seasoning Salt (I find it is too salty with heaping, but some people like that much.)
⅛ - ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Cereal:
6 oz. Cheerios (about 6 cups)
A total of 9 oz. (or 9 cups) of your favorite "chex" cereals**.
4 oz. Corn Chex® (about 2 cups)
4 oz. Rice Chex® (about 2 cups)
1 oz. Wheat Chex® (about 1 cup)
9 - 10 oz. pretzel sticks. Thin sticks work best. If you use regular sticks, use maybe 9 ounces and break them in half.
A total of 24 oz. (about 5 cups) of nuts ††.
I used to use:
(continued in the next column ↗️)
9 oz. (about 2 cups) mixed nuts without peanuts. ***
5 oz. (about 1 cup) cashews
5 oz. (about 1 cup) walnut halves & pieces †
5 oz. (about 1 cup) almonds †
In 2025, I changed to:
7 oz. cashews
8 oz. almonds
6 oz. walnuts
3 oz. pecans
NEXT TIME:
Maybe a little less nuts and a little more Chex® cereals. I feel like it had too many nuts this time.
5 oz. Corn Chex®, 5 oz. Rice Chex®, 1 oz. Wheat Chex® = 11 oz.
7 oz. cashews, 7 oz. almonds, 5 oz. walnuts, 3 oz. pecans = 22 oz.
5 oz. (about 1 cup) cashews
5 oz. (about 1 cup) walnut halves & pieces †
5 oz. (about 1 cup) almonds †
In 2025, I changed to:
7 oz. cashews
8 oz. almonds
6 oz. walnuts
3 oz. pecans
NEXT TIME:
Maybe a little less nuts and a little more Chex® cereals. I feel like it had too many nuts this time.
5 oz. Corn Chex®, 5 oz. Rice Chex®, 1 oz. Wheat Chex® = 11 oz.
7 oz. cashews, 7 oz. almonds, 5 oz. walnuts, 3 oz. pecans = 22 oz.
Directions
Preheat oven to 300°.
In a large roasting pan, heat nuts for about 15 minutes.
In a large roasting pan, heat nuts for about 15 minutes.
While the nuts are heating, melt butter in microwave and add the Worcestershire, garlic and seasoning salt (and cayenne pepper or Tabasco if you use it).
NOTES FOR 2026:
In 2025, I made one batch by melting the butter on the stove and mixing everything else in it while it was still in the pan on the stove. It was better. After all, Aunt Gussie never had a microwave!😋
In 2025, I made one batch by melting the butter on the stove and mixing everything else in it while it was still in the pan on the stove. It was better. After all, Aunt Gussie never had a microwave!😋
⚠️⚠️I am told that Aunt Gussie dumped it all on top of the ingredients at once and then mixed the heck out of it.
Stir well.
After nuts are finished heating, reduce oven to 225°. Give oven time to cool off.
Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the nuts and mix well.
After nuts are finished heating, reduce oven to 225°. Give oven time to cool off.
Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the nuts and mix well.
Adding the liquid:
Mix the butter/Worcestershire/seasoning liquid well.
Stir the liquid again, and stir well before each pour.
To add the mixture, drizzle about 1/8 of the liquid over the dry ingredients and mix it into the dry ingredients well!
Stir liquid well between each pour! Can't emphasize this enough!
Repeat until you have used all the butter mixture.
Mix the dry ingredient mixture with the liquid poured into it very thoroughly so that everything is well mixed.
Stir the liquid again, and stir well before each pour.
To add the mixture, drizzle about 1/8 of the liquid over the dry ingredients and mix it into the dry ingredients well!
Stir liquid well between each pour! Can't emphasize this enough!
Repeat until you have used all the butter mixture.
Mix the dry ingredient mixture with the liquid poured into it very thoroughly so that everything is well mixed.
Put it in the oven at 225° for about 45 minutes.
Stir well about every 15 minutes.
At 45 minutes drop oven temp to 200, and continue for another 45 minutes
Again, stir well every 15 minutes.
After the 90 minutes is up, turn off the oven and leave the mixture in the oven overnight to allow it to fully finish as the oven cools.
Don't be in a rush, though I have taken a small handful and finished it for a few seconds in microwave to make sure it is good! 😀😀
Most important:
Stir well about every 15 minutes.
At 45 minutes drop oven temp to 200, and continue for another 45 minutes
Again, stir well every 15 minutes.
After the 90 minutes is up, turn off the oven and leave the mixture in the oven overnight to allow it to fully finish as the oven cools.
Don't be in a rush, though I have taken a small handful and finished it for a few seconds in microwave to make sure it is good! 😀😀
Most important:
- heat the nuts before adding everything else.
- stir the ingredients well the first time and then every 15 minutes.
- by the end of the 90 minutes, the finished ingredients should not be very shiny with liquid.
Once cooled, the Nuts & Bolts should be stored in an airtight container.
We keep ours in cookie tins lined with plastic wrap.
I have also stored it in plastic bags inside coffee cans for as long as four months.
We keep ours in cookie tins lined with plastic wrap.
I have also stored it in plastic bags inside coffee cans for as long as four months.
Servings\Yield
Makes about 21 cups of mix for 21 1-cup servings.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Per Serving (1 cup) - Calories: 410; Total Fat: 28g (Saturated Fat: 12g); Cholesterol: 45mg; Sodium: 720mg; Total Carbohydrates: 35g (Dietary Fiber: 3g, Sugars: 5g); Protein: 7g
*Nutrition information is provided as a general estimate only. Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients, and is based on available nutrient data. Variations may occur based on ingredient brands and preparation methods.
💬 Uncle Dave says...
This is my version of Chex Party Mix. I based my recipe on our Aunt Gussie's; she made the best Nuts & Bolts of any of us. (The recipe images show ingredients only as the cooking instructions are the same as mine.)
This happens to be the first recipe ever entered into The Ferguson Recipes, over 19 years ago!
** Gussie's original recipe used only Rice Chex®, although I think at some point she may have added Corn Chex® and Wheat Chex®. Crispix® had not been invented when she was alive. Use whatever combination of "chex" cereals you like. NOTE: In2025 I stopped using Crispix® as they break apart too easily.
†† This might be too many nuts for some people, so you might want to drop down to maybe 20 oz. of nuts and increase your cereals by 4 oz.
*** Peanuts have a huge impact on flavor. NOTE: I stopped using any mixed nuts in 2025.
† If you use raw nuts, see the notes in Directions for instructions on cooking them first!
†† This might be too many nuts for some people, so you might want to drop down to maybe 20 oz. of nuts and increase your cereals by 4 oz.
*** Peanuts have a huge impact on flavor. NOTE: I stopped using any mixed nuts in 2025.
† If you use raw nuts, see the notes in Directions for instructions on cooking them first!
🧑🍳 The Cook:
Dave Ferguson
🔑 Keywords:
appetizers,
snacks,
nuts,
pretzels,
cashews,
walnuts,
pecans,
almonds,
Corn Chex®,
Rice Chex®,
Wheat Chex®,
Crispix®,
Cheerios®
🗂️ Categories: 🥨 Apps & Snacks, 🎄 The Holidays, 😎 Uncle Dave's
📚 Collections: From The Ferguson Family, Uncle Dave's Cookbook, The TFR Cookbook
Nuts & Bolts - Recipe #1 was added on April 13, 2006 and last updated on December 27, 2025.
🗂️ Categories: 🥨 Apps & Snacks, 🎄 The Holidays, 😎 Uncle Dave's
📚 Collections: From The Ferguson Family, Uncle Dave's Cookbook, The TFR Cookbook
Nuts & Bolts - Recipe #1 was added on April 13, 2006 and last updated on December 27, 2025.
*Serving suggestion only. 😂 If a food photo doesn't look like it was taken by a monkey named Frank, it was most likely AI generated and not the result of Frank's minimal culinary or photographic skills. Unless you failed the "I'm not a robot" test, your recipes will probably not look like the ones in the pictures. See Creamy Turkey Veggie Soup to read more about AI images.
📄 A Quick Note About The Recipes At The Ferguson Recipes: We love sharing recipes, but please be aware that most haven't been professionally tested in our kitchen or independantly verified. Your safety is important to us, so always practice safe food handling and cooking techniques. Cook smart and use your best judgment! Eggs: If you make a recipe that uses raw eggs, please consider using pasteurized eggs. Allergens: Food allergens have not been identified in each individual recipe. Please use caution if you have any food allergies. Have questions about a specific recipe? Feel free to reach out to us.
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🏛️ Founded April 13, 2006
©️ 2006 - 2026 fergusonrecipes.com
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🤐 Privacy Policy: I don't share your information with anyone; I don't even know how!
📜 Terms of Service: Be nice!
ℹ️ About TFR: Click me to learn more about The Ferguson Recipes!
🏛️ Founded April 13, 2006
©️ 2006 - 2026 fergusonrecipes.com
📧 Contact!
📄Recipe Disclaimer: While The Ferguson Recipes strives to present reliable and delicious recipes, please note that most of the recipes on this site have not undergone rigorous testing or independent verification. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you always follow standard food safety guidelines when preparing any dish. Eggs: If you make a recipe that uses raw eggs, please consider using pasteurized eggs. Allergens: Food allergens have not been identified in each individual recipe. Please use caution if you have any food allergies. If you have any questions or concerns about a specific recipe, please feel free to contact us.
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