Every Friday in our house is movie night, and this puppy chow recipe makes a frequent appearance. The best part? This dessert is ready in 15 minutes, making it a no-bake favorite!
We’ve made it for as long as we can remember (us sisters use to sell it at boutiques when we were younger) and now love to serve it at parties and holiday gatherings.
Whether your family calls it “Puppy Chow,” “Muddy Buddies,” or “Muddy Munch,” this easy dessert recipe for kids is one we ALL love and one we know you’ll LOVE too.
You can also mix the puppy chow with other candies and treats to make a holiday puppy chow or a puppy chow snack mix.
Puppy Chow Ingredients
- Chex Cereal, rice or corn (9 cups): Light, crisp squares with pockets that hold the chocolate peanut butter coating. Use any variety such as Rice Chex, Corn Chex cereal or Honey Nut. Chex mix brands are all gluten-free except the Wheat Chex.
- Semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup): Melts smooth for a balanced chocolate flavor that sets nicely. Or use milk chocolate, dark chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips
- Creamy peanut butter (½ cup): Adds nutty richness and helps the coating cling to every piece. For best results use regular peanut butter but natural peanut butter, Nutella, almond butter, seed butter, or another nut butter can also be used.
- Unsalted butter (½ cup): Loosens the mixture to a pourable glaze and adds buttery flavor.
- Vanilla extract (1 teaspoon): Rounds out the chocolate and peanut butter with warm aroma.
- Powdered sugar (1½ cups): Coats the cereal so pieces do not stick, giving that classic snowy finish.
- Add-ins (optional) – marshmallows, peanuts, almonds, pretzels, M&M’s, Reese’s pieces, or customize with holiday candy
How to Make Puppy Chow
PREP. Place 9 cups cereal in a large bowl and set aside.
SAUCE. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the 1 cup chocolate chips, ½ cup peanut butter, and ½ cup butter by combining and cooking these until smooth (stirring frequently). Remove from the heat and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
COAT. Pour the melted chocolate over cereal, lightly stirring with a spatula until evenly coated.
- Pour melted chocolate mixture into a 2-gallon ziploc bag. Add 1½ cups powdered sugar. Seal bag and shake until well coated.
SERVE. Spread out on a piece of waxed paper to cool, then serve immediately or transfer to an airtight container to store.
Kristyn’s Recipe Tips
- Melt it Right. When melting the chocolate, peanut butter, and butter, do it low and slow. If you’re using the microwave, heat in 30-second bursts, stirring in between so it doesn’t burn!
- Be Gentle. Nobody wants crushed puppy chow! Use a big mixing bowl and stir gently to keep the cereal pieces intact. Or, toss everything in a Ziploc bag and shake it up for an even, mess-free coating!
- Be Generous with the Powdered Sugar. More is more! Make sure every piece is covered in that sweet, powdery goodness.
- Let it Cool. Spread your puppy chow out on parchment paper or a baking sheet to cool completely to help keep it crispy and clump-free!
- Mix it Up. We love adding M&Ms, mini Reese’s cups, sprinkles, or pretzels for a fun twist – so many ways to change it up!
Puppy Chow Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 9 cups Chex Cereal, rice or corn
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Place 9 cups cereal in a large bowl and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter. Cook, stirring frequently, until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla.
- Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated.
- Pour into a 2-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag and shake until well coated.
- Spread out on a piece of waxed paper to cool, then serve immediately or transfer to an airtight container to store.
Notes
- S’mores: Prepare puppy chow as directed, then mix in 4 cups Golden Grahams and 2 cups mini marshmallows.
- Cookies and cream: Add about 8 crushed Oreos to the bag along with the powdered sugar.
- Holiday: Add 1 cup of holiday M&M’s or other holiday-colored candies to the mix.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
You can store it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Place cooled puppy chow in a freezer-safe container and store it for up to 3 months. Allow it to thaw before eating.
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This recipe was first shared in November 2011.
Since this “puppy chow” contains chocolate, which is toxic to dogs, it is for human consumption only.
Family favorite year round! So easy to make and everyone enjoys. Have experimented with other flavors of Chex mix cereal. Really like Cinnamon Chex Mix.
These are a favorite at our house! We have them all year long, not just at Christmas
This is my daughters favorite sweet treat! It is so easy to make and perfect for sending to her in the mail while she is away at college. Love that it only needs simple ingredients I usually have in my pantry.
Great recipe. I will definitely be trying the s’mores variation next time!
My only wish is that I should have doubled the recipe! My family devoured this. I used white chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips.
We love puppy chow and this recipe was complete perfection! Thank you so much for sharing.
What size Chex mix box?
One of our favorite treats! One time, I was out of cereal and still wanted some, so we tried it with popcorn!! Popped a bowl of popcorn and did the same with the ingredients!! WOW! I’ve made it with popcorn for so long, I have almost forgotten you can use cereal!!! And yes, we call it puppy chow!!
Thank you so much
Why do some of the chex mix ball up. Not all of mine are nice and single pieces
I have always loved puppy chow and this recipe is amazing! if you need like a snack for sports or dance, this is a great choice!
Puppie chow was always a favorite treat of mine when I was a child, now I enjoy making it with my own kids.
I have made this recipe several times, not just at Christmas, but all years. Young and old love the taste. Never lasts long.
Love this recipe. Will have to make another batch
I remeber making this when I was growing up. It is fun to make with my kids.
I love Puppy Chow! I made some back in August asking with cookies to give to my local veterinary clinic to thank them for that they do for pets. I have to change it up when making it at home because my daughter doesn’t like chocolate or peanut butter.
Yum! Puppy chow is always a good idea!
We love this recipe!
Yummy and easy
These are delicious! Everybody loves them!
A perfect snack, any time of year, but especially at Christmas!
Love puppy chow going to try and make it with white chocolate chips since my son isn’t a fan of dark chocolate hopefully it comes out good wonder if u could use peanut butter chips too!!!!
Easy to make and my kids love it year round!
I haven’t had this in years. Was just talking to someone about it. So excited I found the recipe. Will be making for the holidays.
My favorite snack to make.
OMG this is addictive! I made it this morning, and my hubs loves it! I will be hiding some for the grands to enjoy when they come over tonight for movie night! Thanks!
This is our favorite holiday snack. It is so easy to make and so good to eat!!
i have made these already ….several batches and they are amazing, a huge family favourite.
This is one of my favorite party snacks but I never made it myself. Thank you for sharing this as I have a party to go to and this will be the perfect snack to take to share.
Love to make for grandkids and holiday parties. Everyone loves it.
Love muddy buddies 🙂
Easily the best quick gift! IF it makes it into the bag…sometimes not all of it does 😉
This is so easy and good. I keep a batch on hand. My grandkids love it.
I think I’ll do red and green candy melts or just green with holiday M&M for Christmas
I haven’t had this in years. But it is so delicious and addicting!
Easy and delicious treat for the whole family!
Super easy recipe to make and delicious. My family loves these
Definitely needs some mix ins.
They look beautiful and taste good too!
Love all your cookie recipes!!
So easy to make and always a hit!
Yummy thanks
Love this recipe. Super easy and everyone always loves it!
Love love love!
Perfect!
Loved it!
Love this snack and so do the kids!
We love Muddy Buddies–delicious!
A holiday favorite!
I love Chex Mix and this one is always a great idea!
It’s so good . It’s the perfect treat.
Awesome recipe. I make this every year for my grandchildren
Love this puppy chow. It’s my kids favorite!
My kids love this stuff. So good and easy to make.
I plan to make this soon. I
Rate it a 10.
Ohhhh so yummy. One of my favorites!!
Yummy and easy treat
I’ve always called it Puppy Chow too! I absolutely love this stuff!
So good and easy! The grandkids love this, it doesn’t last for long!😉
One of family favorites for so many years! And I love that you call it by the same name! Puppy chow is a holiday party staple! Yum!
This is one of my sons favorite recipes to make!
Looking forward to making this with my granddaughter who will be 9 on 12/26!
So easy and fun to make!
Best puppy chow recipe! Love to make it during the holidays! It never stays around long 😋
Hey! I made this for my grandsons Birthday Party! He had a Puppy Dog Pal party. I put the chow mix in cute dog bowls that I got from the Dollar Tree. It was a hit!😁
Hey! I made this for my grandsons Birthday Party! He had a Puppy Dog Pal party! I put the puppy chow mix in cute little dog bowls from the Dollar Tree! It was a hit!
We love this recipe! It’s so easy to make and always turns out well. Delicious!
Best party treat ever! We love taking this to holiday parties! So yummy!!
I love these! These are my go to this time of year. They are perfect for sitting in front of the the TV watching the Hallmark channel and all the Christmas movies.
My kids LOVE this recipe! And I LOVE how easy it is! Sometimes I’ll throw in some red and green M&M’s for Christmas to make things festive.
This is such a great recipe! So easy and my family gobbles it up!
My kids love this recipe! It’s so easy they make it themselves. Perfect for on the go.
This is my go-to recipe for muddy buddies!! I always make it for game nights, parties, and it’s gone within minutes every time. So addicting!
This is one of our favorite treats to make (and eat), especially during the holidays. It gets devoured at our house! We love this quick easy recipe!
I love it when a recipe is THIS EASY and tastes so good! Like a blast from my childhood! Thank you!
Puppy Chow is the name because it looks like dry dog food. It was really popular at sleepovers when I was a kid. Regular people came up with it and it became a common homemade snack. Then sometime in the 2010s, after the internet changed recipe sharing, General Mills company noticed that a lot of people bought Chex to use to make puppy chow, so they decided to further monetize this by selling their own branded pre-made version, which they named Muddy Buddies. I find it a little sad that so many people only know the prepackaged name.
As adults we like using dark chocolate chips so it’s not so sickly sweet (and you can use enough powdered sugar this way).
Using a large bowl with lid eliminates the need for single use plastic bags!
A couple of my kids’ friends have celiac (no gluten for them) so I like to keep this in the freezer to have on hand so they can always have a yummy treat when they’re over.
One of those quick grab snacks that everyone loves.
This is such a delicious snack. Thanks for the easy DIrections.
I’ve heard it called puppy chow, but we call it muddy buddies at my house. no matter what you call it, it’s seriously addicting! My teenage son loves making it to take to friends houses when they are watching movies. everyone loves it!
We call them muddy buddies but either way they are THe best! We love them!
My kids love puppy chow!! I love that it’s easy to make & tastes so good!! We love it for movie night!
thanks for shareing your receips. i will be trying them
Linking to you on my blog tomorrow as I used this recipe for our Superbowl party!
Just made some of this and it is delicious! Thank you!
You’re welcome. So glad you liked it!
I love this stuff it is so yummy. I have had it at parties a time or two but never knew the recipe. I’m glad I found you blog on our link party 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Growing up in IN, we used to call this puppy chow too. But when I moved out west, people didn't have a clue what I was talking about. I guess Chex calls it Muddy Buddies, but I always made it with Crispx. Either way they are a heavenly treat. I plan on making some too. Already bought the ingredients.
The BABY COUNT YOUR BLESSING BOARDS ar so charming!