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!
- 9 cups Combination of Corn, Rice, and Wheat Cereal squares (Chex) *For gluten-free, omit the wheat chex.
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 teaspoon vanilla *make sure to check vanilla for gluten-free
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 1-gallon ziplock bags
- 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 ¾ 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.
*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!
Pantea says
Can I use caramel instead of peanut butter? Would it still work?
Morgan says
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 🙂
Elizabeth says
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!
Jen says
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!
Nell says
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.
sir jorge says
i’ve always wanted to try something like that, now i will get to! thanks
Richard says
The kids will love this but the dog will be sad!
Carsten says
Great work and nice pics!
I really feel hungry now!
Cheers,
Carsten
tasteandshare.comfood social network * wine social network
Sarah says
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
Sarah says
WOW this is awesome! cant wait to make it!
Carrie says
this sure is one of my holiday favorites. i wonder if i have everything i need at home right now?
Veronica Miller says
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.
Emma says
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 🙂
Lynn says
This stuff is like sugar-coated crack! Soooooooooo addictive!!
Peggy says
made this not too long ago… had sooo much and was definitely something i had to share!
alice says
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!
Rich says
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?
Connor says
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!
Wendi says
Alice, this was crazy easy to make. Thanks hon.
Caitlin H says
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!
aimee says
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!
alice says
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
Tanya Kearney says
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!
grace says
classic! have you tried these with the new cinnamon chex? it’s AMAZING.
cutiepiescards says
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!