I LOVE LOVE LOVE when some of the most yummiest treats are also the most easiest to make. Ten years ago my friend Nancy gave each woman in our small group a beautifully packaged container of Puppy Chow aka Muddy Buddies. This was the first time I had ever had this “crazy good” treat. From the first bite I was hooked but also intrigued by what it was made of. When she told me how she made it I couldn’t believe it because it was such an easy recipe yet the combination of all the ingredients produced such a wonderful taste. I will warn you though, it is very addicting. Batches of this stuff have been known to disappear within minutes in our home. Best of all, Chex now makes their rice and corn cereal Gluten-Free. This would make a great homemade Christmas gift or Hostess gift – or a special treat just for yourself. Enjoy!
**DISCLAIMER** Although this recipe is called “Puppy Chow” it’s not for doggie consumption – since chocolate is poisonous for dogs. Many thanks to my friend Jen for pointing this out!
| Puppy Chow Recipe – Muddy Buddies |
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Recipe type: Appetizer
Author:
Prep time: 3 mins
Cook time: 3 mins
Total time: 6 mins
Serves: 9 cups
A fun crunchy, sweet, chocolate treat made with Chex cereal, chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar.
Ingredients
- 9 cups Combination of Corn, Rice, and Wheat Cereal squares (Chex) *For gluten-free, omit the wheat chex.
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 teaspoon vanilla *make sure to check vanilla for gluten-free
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 1-gallon ziplock bags
Instructions
- Place cereal in a large bowl and set aside. In a medium microwavable bowl, add chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Microwave on High for 1 minute and stir. Microwave 30 seconds longer and stir mixture until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour sauce over cereal and stir until evenly coated. Spoon half of the mixture in each 1-gallon resealable ziplock bag. Add 3/4 cup powdered sugar to each bag, and seal. Shake the bag until everything is coated. Spread on waxed/parchment paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.
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*Several people have asked me where I got my snow flake pails I used to package these. I bought them at Target in their $1 section<–Yay for Tar-jay!
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Yum! This is one of my favorites, too… but I never knew how to make it! Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to give it a try, even if I don’t give it away as gifts and keep it for myself.
You’re right these are very addicting. I actually hadn’t heard of them until about a year ago when I went to a friends place and they had these out. I took a bite and was instantly hooked. My friend however, didn’t tell me just how easy they were to make, thanks for sharing the recipe!
Yum! I have actually never made this before but it would be perfect to bring to work for co-workers to snack on instead of the usual Christmas candy I keep in my treat jar!! (and probably cheaper!)
I love puppy chow so much, my mom used to make it growing up. I definitely agree; it is quite addicting.
Adore Puppy Chow! We make it at the office where I work each year and it is always popular!
I have to promise myself I’ll make this only when a batch of people is coming over. Or I will eat it all myself…
SO SCRUMPTIOUS!
Fantastic idea! I’m collecting food gift/stocking stuffer ideas and this is perfect.
Hey sweets, might be a good idea to point out that this is not for doggie consumption – chocolate is poisonous for dogs. xxoo
I just made this on Sunday. I’m addicted…it truly is like crack.
Your photos are lovely and you did a much better job of mixing the chocolate mix with the cereal. Envy.
What perfect timing, I just discovered this treat! My boyfriend’s cousin brought it to Thanksgiving dinner, but called it “trash.” That name made heads turn at the table, but I like yours better. Yummy but very sweet so I only eat a bit at a time.
YES! Count me in. So absolutely simple to make and looks like it’s pretty open to interpretation. I could see using all sorts of ‘extras’ in there. Coconut…espresso…
Thanks!
This stuff is addicting! I love it!
Whoa! That does sound like a crazy combination!
I love Puppy Chow! Quick, simple, and so yummy!
I have never had muddy buddies before, but they look very enticing and your photos just make my mouth water. Lovely post Alice!
Oh, how I love these! Something about chocolate and powdered sugar gets me every time.
These look really good! I’d never heard of Muddy Buddies before and then all of a sudden everyone’s talking about them. So easy, too. And, GF!!! Thanks for posting this, Alice.
I just made this with some girlsfriends this past weekend. We doubled the batch and didn’t have a container to shake it in so we used a large garbage bag. It seem weird at the time, but it tasted SO good!
My son and his girlfriend make this all the time, they love it!
This is one of the first recipes I ever learned to make. It’s one of my favorite holiday snacks. I still make it every year to put on my Christmas treat tray. Everyone, including me, loves it!
This is a perfect idea for giving as gifts to teachers or neighbors and friends. Thank you for sharing will have to try, hopefully my kids won’t try and eat it all when I do
-Natasha
So many people seem to be familiar with this, but it’s an exciting new discovery for me. GREG
I just made these! They’re AMAZING and SO EASY! The only problem is… well, let’s just say I have to find my fat pants.
These are an amazing treat! Try freezing them in a Z-bag….sooooo so good!
Never heard of this before—made it with the kiddos tonite! I was excited b/c I already had these target buckets and hadnt figured out what to put in them for teachers and school staff members…now I do!
classic! have you tried these with the new cinnamon chex? it’s AMAZING.
Hey there! Just wondering how many pails (and what size you used?) this fills.. like how many small gifts did you get out of it? Please let me know as I would like to make this!
Thanks!
Honestly I can’t even tell you. I bought 3 pails for another project but ended up using them as little gifts. Each pail probably holds about 2 cups.. they are the size of pints of ice cream. The puppy chow uses 9 cups of mix but with all the other ingredients mixed in, I am guessing it would add around 1.5 cups additional. Hope this helps.
Alice
just shared this recipe last night with another friend…i have a feeling there will be lots of teachers and aunt/uncles receiving containers for this snack.
a few years back, my daughter was trying to explain {this} a recipe that she wanted us to make…and couldn’t remember the name and called the DIRTY PALS… not so far off from muddy buddies, once I followed her train of thought.
we still refer to them as DIRTY PALS… now if i could find your cute PAILS for them that would make my day! off to target tomorrow!
I absolutely adore this stuff. We grew up with it but my mom called it “white trash.” I also throw in some raisins, they are even better than raisinettes. I can’t wait to make a batch of this tomorrow!
Alice, this was crazy easy to make. Thanks hon.
I just made them 20 minutes ago, YUMMY!
Hint: If they don’t look very good when you first pull them out of the bag, just add more powdered sugar!
Hey there! Just checked the Target.com website and couldn’t find the cute pails… is this just an in-store item??? How many other sizes do they come in?
Hi Rich,
I doubt these pails are online. Target has a $1 section in-store and this is where I found the pails and only in 1 size (approx. 1 pint). Hope this helps!
made this not too long ago… had sooo much and was definitely something i had to share!
This stuff is like sugar-coated crack! Soooooooooo addictive!!
Thank you so much for this. I needed something easy and quick for a christmas party tonight and it was the easiest thing!! And the most amazing too.
Thanks again
I had some leftover chex cereals from making another sweet mix with them, and I decided to make this for gifts for some co-workers. It’s so yummy, I know they’ll love it. Thanks! I did have a problem after adding the vanilla–it went from smooth and liquid to thick like frosting so it was very hard to stir into the cereal. It still worked out but I wonder if you’ve ever had that happen to you. I even tried heating it some more after stirring in the vanilla, but it seemed to get even thicker so I didn’t heat it any more than 10 seconds before resigning myself to some heavy-duty stirring.
this sure is one of my holiday favorites. i wonder if i have everything i need at home right now?
WOW this is awesome! cant wait to make it!
Hi!
I tried your recipe tonight and it was a great success! It was delicious and so quick and easy to make. Thanks for the recipe.
Sarah
Great work and nice pics!
I really feel hungry now!
Cheers,
Carsten
tasteandshare.comfood social network * wine social network
The kids will love this but the dog will be sad!
i’ve always wanted to try something like that, now i will get to! thanks
For a more filling (and very slightly more nutritious) snack, try using UNfrosted mini wheats. You don’t need the frosting with all that chocolate peanut butter goodness already, but the shredded wheat cereal is a lot more substantial. That way, it tastes virtually the same but the whole batch doesn’t dissapear in one night.
Nell: while that is a great idea for those who can eat it…part of the point in this recipe is that it is gluten free. For those of us with an intolerance (and my children with Celiac’s) wheat is COMPLETELY forbidden.
These are my kids FAVORITE treat and it’s sooo nice to serve them for a treat that everyone enjoys and can eat!
I appreciate the gluten-free angle but I just had to throw in this suggestion for those that may not be a problem for: I’ve always made these with Golden Grahams and crunchy PB and they are AWESOME!
Puppy chow, along with lemon bars, oatmeal fudge, and hello dollies, were one of the “tempting treats” as we called them that my mom would always make around Christmas every year. Nothing reminds me more of home or gives me that warm fuzzy feeling inside than a big handful of puppy chow, thanks for sharing
Can I use caramel instead of peanut butter? Would it still work?
Pantea: I’m sure you could.. not sure how it would taste but if you do, come back and report to us how it went.
YUMMY!!Thanks alot!!
An easier way to mix this is to put the cereal mix in a big brown paper grocery bag, add the chocolate mix, the powdered sugar, fold over the top and Shake Shake Shake!!!!
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