Puppy Chow Recipe is so simple to make but the best treat. Our family loves to snack on these decadent little bites of cereal, peanut butter, chocolate and more.
This recipe is a delicious combination of chex cereal loaded in chocolate and peanut butter. Everything is mixed together and coated in powdered sugar for a tasty no bake dessert recipe.
It’s super easy and I make other variations all year long. We also enjoy making S’mores Puppy Chow, Puppy Chow Ice Cream and Cake Batter Puppy Chow.
Table of contents
Why We Love This Recipe
You are going to love this Puppy Chow Recipe for the perfect movie snack, party food, game day and more. It is the easiest treat to make when you want something sweet and oh so tasty.
I am always amazed that something so simple as chex cereal can turn into something so fabulous. Once it is coated with so much goodness and mixed with the candy and more, it is out of this world.
Ingredients
- Chocolate Chips. I like to use semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Peanut Butter. Creamy peanut butter is best and creates a smooth texture.
- Butter. Always use real butter!
- Vanilla. Pure vanilla is best.
- Chex Cereal. You can use either rice chex cereal or corn chex cereal.
Get the complete ingredient list at the bottom of the page.
Substitutions and Variations
- Seasonal muddy buddies. Try using different colors for other holidays. We love to make Christmas Puppy Chow Recipe, Valentines Day Puppy Chow Recipe and Easter puppy chow.
- Nuts. Another tasty idea to add is nuts. Just add ½ cups nuts to the mixture to change up the flavor.
- Sprinkles. We love adding sprinkles to this puppy chow recipe. You can make this for birthday parties and use sprinkles to match the party colors. That would be so fun.
- Cereal. I most always use chex cereal. However, occasionally when I can get crispix cereal on sale, I have used that.
- Candy – You can easily add in chocolate candy such has mini reese’s peanut cups or M&M’s to add more chocolate to this mix.
- Pretzels – You can add in pretzels for a sweet and salty mix.
- Chocolate. Substitute white chocolate instead of chocolate.
How to Make Puppy Chow
Step 1. Combine Chocolate chips, Peanut Butter and Butter – First, you need a microwave safe bowl. Add the chocolate, peanut butter, butter and vanilla. Melt the ingredients in the microwave and cook for 30 second intervals.
Step 2. Next, put the cereal into a large bowl.
Step 3. Then pour the melted chocolate peanut butter mixture over the Chex cereal.
Step 4. Gently Stir until coated with melted chocolate mixture. I like to use a spatula to help fold the cereal in the melted chocolate. This makes it easier to completely coat it in the chocolate.
Storage
The mixture needs to cool completely before storing. Once cool, place inside an air tight container.
It should last about a week stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, this recipe is easy to make ahead. Around the holidays, I make a bunch in advance and freeze it.
Just make the recipe as normal and place inside a freezer bag or container. It will keep up to 2 months in the freezer.
This is the perfect dessert to prepare and give out as gifts to teachers, friends and neighbors. We like to place in cute holiday jars since this puppy chow stores so well.
The shape of the coated cereal looks like the shape of dog food. The original Chex cereal was made by Purina and people in the 1930’s started calling it people chow.
The name stuck and all these years later, it is still called puppy chow. However, you might know it by other names such as muddy buddies or reindeer chow.
Some people call this recipe puppy chow and some call it muddy buddies. Whatever you prefer to call it, it is amazing. You might like any one of our Best Puppy Chow Recipes.
This recipe goes by different names. We call it puppy chow but some call them muddy buddies. What do you call it?
Regardless of names, this is one delicious treat and so easy to make. It often is regional what you call it.
Pro Tips
- Double the recipe. This treat is super easy to double if you plan to host a crowd or hand this out to friends. Just make sure you have a really large bowl.
- Peanut Butter. It is best to skip the all natural peanut butter in this recipe. The processed variety or creamy peanut butter works best. We prefer Peter Pan or Jiff.
- Allow to cool. Ensure the cereal mix has properly cooled before storing in containers. We like to place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to cool.
- Melting Chocolate – Slowly melt the chocolate to ensure that it doesn’t burn. We recommend stirring after heating for 30 seconds.
More Puppy Chow Recipes
- Easy Grinch Puppy Chow Recipe
- Lemon Puppy Chow
- S’mores Puppy Chow Recipe
- Christmas Puppy Chow Recipe
- St. Patrick’s Day Puppy Chow Recipe
Make this Muddy Munch today for the perfect snack mix. Then leave a star rating and comment.
Puppy Chow Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 9 cups chex cereal
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a microwave safe bowl – combine chocolate, peanut butter, butter and vanilla.
- Place in the microwave and cook for 30 seconds.
- Stir and microwave again for 30 seconds. Continue doing this until he chocolate is melted through.
- Place the chex cereal in a larger bowl.
- Pour the melted chocolate combination over the chex cereal
- use a spatula to fold the cereal to coat it completely in the chocolate.
- Pour the powdered sugar into a 2 gallon ziplock bag. If you don’t have a 2 gallon bag, you can use a giant brown paper bag from the grocery store, or divide it into 2 one gallon bags.
- Pour the chocolate covered chex in the ziplock bag.
- Seal the bag and shake to coat the chex in the powdered sugar.
- Allow to cool and serve! Store In an air tight container.
Recipe Video
Made puppy chow and added Christmas m &m’s to give out as gifts this Christmas
Got lots of positive feedback. Quick and easy to make.
We love puppy chpw in this house. Can’t get enough!
I haven’t thought of this recipe since my kids were teeny. Made this with my granddaughter. We had so much fun together creating our muddy buddy mix for Christmas snacking. We added in m&ms for extra sweet surprise. Easy to assemble, although it may make a bit of a mess. More memories!