The Very Best Puppy Chow {Muddy Buddies}
Coated with the perfect ratio of peanut butter and chocolate, the cereal in this very best puppy chow recipe forms the tastiest little clusters. It’s so good!
Say goodbye to the puppy chow of decades past, this new and improved recipe is all grown up and addictively delicious. I’m sharing a few key tips that take this puppy chow from ordinary to amazing!
What Makes This Puppy Chow Different
There is no special food rocket science behind puppy chow (or muddy buddies, as they are called in some places depending on where you live and/or how you were raised!).
Puppy chow is simply chex cereal + peanut butter and chocolate + powdered sugar coating.
However, I humbly submit that making just a few key changes elevates good ol’ puppy chow to new heights.
This is how we’re doing it:
- Increasing the peanut butter
- Including a bit of cocoa powder with the powdered sugar in the coating
- Letting the puppy chow rest before shaking in powdered sugar/cocoa for optimal cluster forming (as well as shaking the bag JUST RIGHT).
Even with all those bossy bits of advice, this snacky peanut butter chocolate treat is insanely easy to make.
The peanut butter/chocolate chip/butter mixture is melted quickly in the microwave and then poured over the chex cereal.
I find that a flat silicone spatula is the very best for mixing the cereal so it stays in full pieces without breaking apart.
Let the coated cereal mixture rest for just a few minutes until it goes from wet and shiny to looking a bit sticky. This is an important step. If it is too wet, the powdered sugar soaks into the runny chocolate instead of forming a powdery coating on the outside.
Using two 1-gallon ziploc bags (or use a single 2-gallon ziploc bag…I keep these revolutionary bags on hand just for this puppy chow recipe), shake the chocolate-covered cereal and powdery coating together.
Then, spread the puppy chow mixture on a parchment-lined baking sheet to let it cool and set. At this point, you can easily sprinkle on a bit more powdered sugar and toss by hand if there are extra gooey spots that need it.
Perfect Puppy Chow Clusters
This recipe for perfect puppy chow is all grown up. It is defiantly (yes, defiantly) more decadent and chocolatey with less risk of inhaling enough powdered sugar to clog a lung.
And it still manages to be super fun, super kid-friendly, and super delicious. My kids LOVE this stuff.
Once you’ve experienced those ultra-chocolatey puppy chow clusters, there’s no going back.
To get perfect clusters, this recipe 1) uses a bit less powdered sugar coating than some recipes call for, and 2) requires shaking the bag less intensely/for less time than you would if you were coating each piece individually in powdered sugar.
A Revolutionary Storage Tip for Puppy Chow
I’m going to leave you with one final note, and it may be the most important thing you’ll read all day.
Note of all notes: Your life will forever be changed if you store this puppy chow in the freezer. Yes, the freezer. It is unbelievably delicious eaten straight from that chilly incubator.
Like, make a double batch, tell no one, (possibly buy an extra freezer), stash it behind the half open bag of freezer-burned tater tots, and start living your best life.
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The Very Best Puppy Chow Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (340 g) semisweet chocolate chips (see note)
- 1 ¼ cups (320 g) peanut butter (see note)
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) salted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 10 ½ to 11 cups (352 g) rice or corn chex cereal (a 12-ounce box – see note)
- 2 ½ cups (285 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons (11 g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder (see note)
Instructions
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter and cook for 1-minute intervals, stirring in between, until the mixture is smooth and fully melted. Don't overheat. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Place the cereal in a very large bowl or divide between two medium/large bowls.
- Pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal. Use a silicone spatula to gently lift and stir the cereal (so it doesn't crush and break) until it is coated evenly.
- Let the cereal rest until it goes from wet and shiny to looking a bit sticky, 5 to 10 minutes (this is an important step – If it is too wet, the powdered sugar soaks into the runny chocolate instead of forming a powdery coating on the outside).
- In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder (see note).
- Spoon about half of the powdered sugar mixture in the bottom of two 1-gallon ziploc bags or one 2-gallon ziploc bag (I keep these larger bags on hand just for this recipe – makes it so easy to mix!).
- Add the cereal mixture to the bag(s). This step can be a bit messy. It helps to fold down the top of the bag a few inches and pile the cereal in.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar mixture.
- Close the bag and shake, turning the bag over as you go, until the cereal is mostly coated with the powdered sugar mixture and has formed clusters here and there.
- (You can continue adding powdered sugar a little at a time and shaking to coat if you'd like a thicker powdery coating on the puppy chow, but be warned that this may result in less clusters.)
- Spread the puppy chow out on a parchment-lined baking sheet. At this point, you can easily sprinkle on a bit more powdered sugar and toss by hand if there are extra gooey spots that need it. Let the puppy chow sit for 20 to 30 minutes to cool and set.
- Store the puppy chow in the fridge or the freezer and experience how good life can be when munching on chilled clusters of this magnificent stuff.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Coming here to share the life hack I learned from Janssen Bradshaw – dump the bag of cereal out on your cooling rack and it separates all the cereal dust before you put it in your bowl!
This was my first time to ever make muddy buddies. Actually, my daughter made them. So freaken good!🙌
Oh my gosh this is so good!!! I have to know how do you not gain weight having this stuff in your freezer? 😂🤤
Haha, it’s so irresistible, I know!
Delicious! Your method is the best! I feel like the ratio of chocolate/pb to cereal was perfect.
Yay! Love to hear this – thanks, Angela!
Friends of the internet, I am here with the good news of the gospel of using one bowl with a lid for this entire recipe (minus melting the chocolate–do that in a separate bowl, although if you do it in the big bowl, I’d respect you).
After you carefully folded in the chex with the chocolate mixture, put the lid on and shake it to more evenly distribute the chocolate (for those too afraid of breaking cereal–I’ve never found it to do much harm. And if it did, it’s cereal. It’s meant to be broken). Then open the bowl, put the powdered sugar and cocoa powder directly into the bowl, it will mix itself during the process–you do not need to do this in a separate bowl. Replace the lid, shake again. Open the lid, scrape down the sides if needed to get the chocolate unstuck from the sides, and shake the lid again. Repeat if necessary.
Spread out on a pan? I mean, who are we? Martha Stewart? Just eat it straight out of the bowl. And wait for it to cool 10-15 minutes? No, those aren’t the kinds of people we are (I DO know you! Now look yourself in the mirror and get to know yourself). We enjoy Muddy Buddies (the one and true name) in stages. Warm right after made, and cooled down for second dessert later. Storing in the freezer? Now that, that is a good tip, which I tried after reading this recipe, and everyone should do that. It rounds out the Chex life-cycle into three divine forms.
Join me on team one bowl with a lid.
🙂 🙂
I have a question before making these…..do you just measure out the powdered sugar from the bag by spooning into a cup, or do you sift it first and then spoon it in…or sift it into the measuring cup? I know my family would love this!
Hi Vicki, because the powdered sugar doesn’t need to be precise for this recipe, I don’t sift it or anything like that. I just dip my measuring cup into the fluffed up powdered sugar and measure that way.
Made these last night for my son in home MTC. They were SO good. I’m making another batch to take camping today.
My kids made this for a lemonade stand this weekend. They sold out of it the Friday and had to make more. Then people came back Saturday because they said it was the best puppy chow they had ever eaten and they needed more. Thanks for easy and good recipes!
I loved reading this! Thank you, Janet!!
I will never make these again. Why? Because I can not stop eating them!! Oh my word… amazing!!! Definitely need to make to give away, or make every once in a while, because I could eat these every day. I think the addition of cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli special dark) takes them over the top!
Haha, I HEAR YOU! Same issue when I make this puppy chow.
I have made several puppy chow recipes over the years, and none of them compare with the perfection of this recipe! The balance of sweet and savory and also of crunch and coating is just right. This is definitely going to be my only puppy chow recipe from now on.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a review and let me know, Maren. So happy to hear that!
All of the smart little changes added up to make exceptional puppy chow! Thanks for another winner!
Thanks, Becky!
This is a very grown up tasting version of muddy buddies! Even using semisweet chocolate, the cocoa powder gives it a dark chocolate taste. The powdered sugar/cocoa powder mixture didn’t cover the cereal in the way that I’m used to even giving it a five minute rest (I ended up using more). I prefer the childlike powdered sugar version myself, but this is a great one to have in my back pocket.
Thanks for the review, Rebecca.
This looks amazing, but I have one kid who doesn’t like chocolate (where did we go wrong?!?). Is there a non chocolate (ie butterscotch?) version of this? Then I could make 2 batches and we’d all be happy 🙂
I haven’t tried a non-chocolate version, Kristi, sorry I’m not more help! Totally worth a try to use white chocolate or butterscotch??
It’s crazy how just a few tweaks can take this recipe from good to super delicious! There are only four of us and it’s not going to take but a day or two to devour it.
So happy you made this and loved it, Nancy!
Agh!!! You are killing me! I never make this because I have no self control when it comes to Puppy Chow! (I wish I called it Muddy Buddies . . . That sounds better. . .). Of course my daughter and I made it the day you posted it, and we had it for our FHE treat. Freeze it? Brilliant.
Haha, glad you loved it, Laura!
This is the BEST puppy chow recipe ever!!!! I took it to a friend’s house and everyone said it was sooo good! My kids devoured the leftovers!!
That makes me so happy! Thanks for letting me know, Hannah!
How did you know about the freezer burned tater tots? lol PuppyChow is a gateway snack. lol Gateway to HAPPINESS!!! bah ha ha ha… I’ve never considered making it outside of the holiday season. I may have to remedy that.
Hahahaha.
The ultimate substitution that deserves its own recipe is Poppy Chow. Everything is the same, but you use plain popped popcorn instead of the cereal. You do want to sift/sort well to ensure there are no unpopped kernels. I’m telling you – poppy chow.
Interesting, Rob! I need to try this!
Not in your cookbook?
Not in this FIRST volume (wink, wink)
WHAT?! Don’t tease us like this, Mel!! Will there be a volume 2?!
Well, I already have a list of recipes that need to be included in volume two…we’ll see if I can make it happen!! 🙂
This also works perfectly with Crispex cereal or a combo of Chex and Crispex. The freezer tip is genius!! Thanks, Mel!!
Good to know, thanks, Sara!
The BEST muddy buddy recipe I’ve made (or eaten)!!
Love the extra peanut butter, the cocoa powder, waiting to add the sugar, using the extra large baggie, and freezing it– all brilliant! Those really set it apart from the regular recipe. And bonus because I didn’t have to turn on the oven or stovetop (b/c no one needs extra heat in the summer)!
I did use crunchy peanut butter for extra texture and it worked perfectly.
Wait…people are making puppy chow outside of the holiday months?!?!? Seriously though, I only make it during Christmas and I follow the recipe on the box, LOL. Silly, silly me. My summer just got much, much better! 🙂
No shame in making it just for the holidays! Funny enough, I never make it for the holidays?? Screams after school or summer snack to me. 🙂
We used to make this and sell it at the school fair. We added reeses pieces. Have’nt made it since but tempted to make yours.
Brilliant idea!
Question: is it possible to substitute nut butter for the peanut butter in case of peanut allergies?
Hi Barbara, I think that stands a good chance of working. The key is to use a substitute that is really creamy. If it is thick and stodgy, it may not work quite as well.
Mel, I don’t know which is better…..your delicious recipe or your since of humor when writing your instructions! Well, I’m off to buy a freezer now!
Hahaha 🙂
Mother of four grown sons and 10 grandchildren. Still the treat most asked for. We like using Crispix cereal. And sometimes I use half semi sweet and half peanut butter chips. The biggest old Tupperware bowl is an heirloom for this very recipe. Thanks for the freezer tip. Perfect for Florida
Love the tips, Linda! Maybe I can get my mom to pass down her iconic Tupperware bowl to me someday!
This looks so good! Can’t wait to try.
Made it just now and we’re all chowing down! Just pulled a little bowl out of the freezer for myself. YUM!
Yay! I’m telling you, the freezer tip is just the best thing I’ve done for myself this year.
I’ve been doing the cocoa powder trick for years!! Except I go for 1/4-1/2cup of cocoa and reduce powdered sugar by as much!! DECADENT CHOCOLATE HEAVEN!!
Delicious!
Mel, this isn’t the first time I’ve hopped online to find a recipe only to find that you have posted the very recipe I need! You are awesome. Your recipes are the first ones I turn to for inspiration, motivation, or just the very best recipe. On a side note, I’m secretly wishing for a special episode of Jennifer Garner’s Pretend Cooking Show with guest host Mel from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe!
P.S. This puppy chow recipe is spot on. Look no further people. Letting the mixture set for a minute before coating in powdered sugar is genius. It’s all about the clusters. 😊
Haha, thanks, Julie! Not sure I’m cool enough for a real life friendship with my BFF Jen (wink, wink) but that would be fun. And you are right about this puppy chow! It’s all about the clusters.
But we know Jennifer Garner has Mel’s cookbook, because she recently made the rolls from it! A collab between the two of you would be pretty stinkin’ cool!
This is our fav summer treat! My only advice would be to not shake too much because little clusters are the best (IMO) for munching. Also, we chill it in the fridge before we eat.
Totally agree!
I’ve been using extra peanut butter for years!! So yummy! Can’t wait to try the cocoa powder in the powdered sugar.