Puppy Chow *aka* Muddy Buddies Chex Mix Recipe

I have officially convinced my kids that snacks from "the 1900's" are simply superior to any snack out there. Exibit A: I give you this Puppy Chow Reccipe (aka Muddy Buddies). Crunchy cereal, melty chocolate and peanut butter, and covered in powdered sugar. I use a specific ratio of peanut butter to chocolate and this truly is the best puppy chow recipe. It's the most addicting snack.

For some reason, this treat seems to only come out during sporting events. Super Bowl? Olympics? World Series? If we are watching sports on TV....we are eating Puppy Chow.

Crazy name.....delicious treat! Other names: Muddy Munch, puppy chow chex mix, chex mix puppy chow, Muddy Buddies.

Ingredients for Puppy Chow (aka Muddy Buddies)

Just the basics here. Nothing fancy. Nothing expensive.

• Crispex cereal (or corn chex)
• semi-sweet chocolate chips
• creamy peanut butter
• powdered sugar

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions for Puppy Chow (aka Muddy Buddies)

You will need a large mixing bowl.  Bigger than you would think.  You will measure out your dry cereal and put it in your bowl.  

Then I use a small saucepan on the stove to melt the peanut butter and chocolate chips.  This will get nice and silky smooth if you melt it slowly over medium heat.  

Pour the chocolate peanut butter mixture over the cereal in the bowl and carefully mix it.  You want all of the cereal evenly coated but be careful to not crush all the cereal.  

Put your powdered sugar in a large bag.  In the 90's we used a fresh clean trash bag.  In modern times (😂) I've been using a jumbo ziplock bag. You can also use a paper grocery bag.  

Pour your chocolate-covered cereal mixture into the bag. Shake and shake.  Find a kid who would love to shake this up.  Keep shaking until the cereal is fully coated in powdered sugar.  

Serve in an extra large Tupperware container so you can easily just pop the lid on for safe keeping.  

Substitutions

You will see that my recipe calls for Crispex.  That is my favorite shape of cereal to use for this.  I love the crunch and air-filled big pockets of Crispex.  But you can easily use corn Chex or rice Chex cereal.  Wheat chex doesn't work well in this mix as it is more flat and dense.  You need the nice pockets of air in the cereal.

I love the contrast of semi-sweet chocolate chips here, but I have also used milk chocolate chips in a pinch and they work just fine.  But given the choice, I always choose semi-sweet.  If this is your first time making homemade puppy chow, I suggest sticking with the original simple ingredients and next time trying any variations that sound like a yummy treat.

You can get crazy here and also try it with white chocolate.  

Use only creamy peanut butter.  And Jiff or Skippy works better than any of the natural peanut butter.   Smooth and silky is the name of the game. 

At the holidays you can turn this into all kinds of cute treat mixes.

At Christmas add peanuts and Christmas M&Ms to make Reindeer Chow

at Easter, add pastel Peanut M&Ms and mini marshmallows to make Bunny Bait

At Halloween, I love to add Reese's pieces for the orange, yellow, and brown color

Storage

This snack mix is a great one to make a few days ahead of a party or event.  It stores perfectly at room temperature or in the fridge if you live in a hot climate.  

I like to store Puppy Chow (aka Muddy Buddies) in a Rubbermaid airtight container.  This is a bit better than a ziplock in that it keeps the cereal from getting squished.

If you want a cute gift, portion this out into mason jars and deliver it with a cute gift tag. 

More snacks and treats to try

These are my favorite snack and treat recipes to serve for parties.