S’mores puppy chow also known as muddy buddies is an ultimate snow day sweet snack mix. It’s a sinfully delicious, super addictive. A simple treat made with chex cereal, chocolate, peanut butter, marshmallows, powdered sugar and seasonal candies.
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About S’mores puppy chow
Why make S’mores puppy chow this holiday season?
Let me tell you why you should make these puppy chow chex snack for the holiday season –
- It’s got chocolate
- There’s peanut butter
- Powdered sugar looks like snow
- And your favorite candies to jazz up the holiday season!
For those who have major sweet tooth you are about to enter sweet heaven with the sugary sweet classic puppy chow. It’s also a perfect NO-BAKE dessert, great for a party. Yes you can serve it as dessert too.
Why is it called puppy chow?
Ever wondered why do they call this sweet snack puppy chow?! I did! I’m not entirely sure why did people start calling it puppy chow, apparently it looks like dog food so it got the name puppy chow.
Some even call it chow chow puppy. Haha! Some call puppy chow as muddy buddies, Reindeer chow (especially the Christmas puppy chow ones) or even Monkey munch!
Whatever the name is, this classic puppy chow chex recipe is irresistible. Make sure to make a large batch of it, if you have big crowd you want to spread a little joy this holiday season.
With this puppy chow recipe chex you can easily spread the joy without much effort. You can in fact make tons of this sweet treat in short amount of time. Who doesn’t love easy to make, super-fast holiday gifting ideas? And edible holiday gifts always gets some extra love.
Ingredients needed
Chex Cereal – I used gluten free rice chex cereal.
Dark Chocolate Chips – Use premium quality dark chocolate to coat the cereal mix. You can use dark choco chips or dark chocolate bark chopped into pieces and melted in microwave.
Peanut Butter – You’ll need creamy peanut butter for this recipe.
Powdered Sugar – to coat puppy chow, it gives that snow covered look on the chex cereal.
Vanilla – use pure vanilla extract for that added vanilla flavor to the snack mix.
Mini Marshmallow – Mini marshmallows works best. You can simply add the mini marshmallows in the chocolate-peanut butter sauce and melt it or just mix it with chex cereal and coat it with chocolate-peanut butter.
Add-ons – S’mores puppy chow basically has mini marshmallows, chex cereal coated in chocolate-peanut butter and then coated with powdered sugar. While you can stop just right there, you can also try adding in more add-one.
Some of the most popular add ons that will work best are –
Miniature Reese peanut butter cups
Mini marshmallows
Choco chips
Christmas M&M’s
Pretzels
Christmas sprinkles,
or just go ahead with any other add-ons of your choice.
How to make puppy chow (step-by-step)
Puppy chow starts with melting dark chocolate and peanut butter in microwave until smooth.
Stir in vanilla extract and put in mini marshmallows. Stir well. You can leave the marshmallows in bits if not melted completely.
Pro-Tip: DO NOT use old marshmallows.
DO NOT heat marshmallows in high heat, they will solidify and turn chocolate peanut butter sauce really THICK! It’s okay if mini marshmallows aren’t melted completely. S’more puppy chow should have marshmallow bits and bites to it.
Take the chex cereal in a large bowl or thick zip lock bag.
Pour melted chocolate mix over it. Toss well to coat the cereal in chocolate mix.
Pro-Tip: be gentle if you use silicon spatula to stir coat the cereal. You don’t want to break the cereal, don’t worry about clump together. Cereal should be completely coated in chocolate.
Load these chocolate coated cereal in zip lock bag with powdered sugar and shake it well. Everything should be coated well with sugar.
Wait for the puppy chow to dry. Then mix in the add-ins. Miniature Reese peanut butter cups, mini marshmallows, choco chips, Christmas M&M’s, pretzels, sprinkles, or any other add-ins of your choice.
Serve it immediately.
Left overs can be stored in air tight box for up to a week. Make sure the chocolate and sugar coating are completely dry before you store.
Pro-Tip: Spread puppy chow on a large tray to dry them fast.
S’mores puppy chow recipe variations
What we have shared today is S’more puppy chow recipe using marshmallows.
You can definitely customize your own recipe to make your own puppy chow recipe variations.
Are you allergic to peanuts? – Eliminate peanut butter entirely. You can also swap it for Nutella.
Peppermint Puppy Chow – Crush peppermint candy canes and add it to the puppy chow mix along with kisses.
Sugar Cookie Puppy Chow – Chex cereal coated in almond bark, and then covered in funfetti cake mix sprinkled with colorful sprinkles.
Cookie and Cream Puppy Chow – Chex cereal half coated in dark chocolate and chocolate pudding mix and another half in white chocolate and vanilla pudding mix. Mix in mini Oreos for added taste.
Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow – Melt white chocolate, peanut butter, vanilla extract and pumpkin spice together and coat over chex cereal. Finally coat in powdered sugar.
Caramel Apple Puppy Chow – Melt almond bark and drizzle caramel over it. Coat chex cereal and dried apple bits with almond melt and finally coat powdered sugar.
Brownie Mix Puppy Chow – Melt dark chocolate, vanilla and peanut butter. Coat cereal mix with the melted mix. Transfer to zip lock bag and add in brownie mix. Add on mini Reese peanut butter cups for added taste.
You can do endless variations.
Looking for more ideas of Christmas food gifts? Check these out –
Instant Pot Popcorn (+3 flavoring ideas)
Irish Shortbread Christmas Tree Cookies
Eggless Gingerbread Man Cookies
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📋S’mores Puppy Chow Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups Chex cereal + 1 ½ cup extra (to be used as add-ons)
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate bark
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 ¾ cups mini marshmallows
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt optional
- 1 ½ cup confectioners powdered sugar
Add-ons
- Mini marshmallows
- Mini Reese peanut butter cups I used the normal Reese cups, chopped into half
- Chocolate chips
- Christmas M&M
Instructions
- In a microwaveable bowl melt dark chocolate and peanut butter for 30 seconds interval for 2-3 times stirring in between.
- Pro-Tip: I prefer to use dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips. It’s sugar loaded snack, so using dark chocolate cuts down the sweetness to a bit.
- Once completely melted, add in vanilla extract and ¾ cup mini marshmallows and stir well.
- Pro-Tip: DO NOT heat on high temperature once marshmallow is added. Stir in the marshmallows in microwave for 30 seconds to a minute on low temperature. Marshmallows will thicken and turn chocolate mix hard if heated on high temperature.
- No need to completely melt the marshmallows. The heat of the microwaveable jar will begin to slightly melt, that sound be enough.
- Have chex cereal mix ready in a large mixing bowl or a gallon sized zip lock bag. Pour the chocolate mix over the cereal. Stir or mix gently to coat.
- Pro-Tip: be gentle while stirring. You don’t want to break the cereal, don’t worry about clump together. Cereal should be completely coated in chocolate.
- Load these chocolate coated cereal in zip lock bag with powdered sugar and shake it well. Everything should be coated well with sugar.
- Wait for the puppy chow to dry. Then mix in the add-ins. Miniature Reese peanut butter cups, mini marshmallows, naked Chex cereals, choco chips, Christmas M&M’s, pretzels, sprinkles, or any other add-ins of your choice.
- Serve it immediately. Or store it in air tight container for up-to a week.
Catherine
This is such a fun snack treat for the holiday season! Perfect for movie night or holiday parties…puppy chow is always fun to have on hand!
jyothirajesh
Thank you Catherine. This was big hit with my kids
Byron Thomas
Oh, this looks sinfully delicious! I just made a batch about a week ago and even though it looks very similar to yours, there are some differences. I never thought about adding mini marshmallows to the mix. Sounds great. Do you think they could be melted into the chocolate?
jyothirajesh
Thank you Bryon. Marshmallows do melt a bit in the heat of the chocolate, I wouldn’t heat it much once mini marshmallows are added as it turns the sauce thick.
Mahy Elamin
All of these s’mores recipes are making me really hungry!!! I can definitely see myself making this one! Pinning!
jyothirajesh
Thank you Mahy
Pavani
I didn’t know puppy chow is this inviting and addictive snack 🙂 I can see myself eating bowl full of this. Perfect snack to have around the holidays,
jyothirajesh
Thank you Pavani, my kids loved it
Claudia Lamascolo
I love that this is all dressed up for the holiday in red and green candy it is so festive and looks great!
jyothirajesh
Thank you Claudia
Karyl Henry
I don’t know that I could make this, because I would eat the whole thing before my guests arrived! I love every single ingredient in here, and I love how easy it is to maek
jyothirajesh
haha, true Karyl, they make a great snack and totally addictive too
Cheese Curd In Paradise
This certainly is the ultimate puppy chow! I love the addition of the marshmallows and the peanut butter cups! This is something my boys would rave about!
jyothirajesh
My kids loved it. Hope you give it a try. Thank you
Mirlene
What a great snack to have and bring everyone around the table for a good conversation. These snacks are what perfect around the holiday season. It’s comforting. I am looking forward to trying your smores puppy chow recipe. Looks great.
jyothirajesh
Thank you Mirlene. So glad you loved it. Do try it, I’m pretty sure it’ll be big hit with family and friends