The BEST Muddy Buddies Recipe
Whether you call it muddy buddies or puppy chow, this classic is always guaranteed to be a crowd favorite. Rice Chex cereal is coated with a combination of melted chocolate and peanut butter, then tossed in powdered sugar for the ultimate easy sweet snack.
The first time I heard about this recipe, it was referred to as “puppy chow” and I absolutely thought that people were talking about a homemade dog food snack. I soon found out that it was an alternative (and sometimes regional) name for what is more commonly known as Muddy Buddies – a super quick recipe made with Rice Chex cereal. Traditionally, the cereal is coated with a melted mixture of chocolate chips, butter, peanut butter, and vanilla extract, then dusted with powdered sugar. Basically, it’s one of the most addicting snacks you’ll ever make. The fact that it can be thrown together in just 15 minutes is both wonderful and dangerous. If you ask me, it’s all sorts of wonderful.
I’ve tinkered with the recipe over the years, eliminating the butter from the chocolate and peanut butter coating, upping the peanut butter, and adjusting the powdered sugar and cereal amounts to make the most chocolatey and peanut buttery version that clumps up wonderfully (aren’t those clumps the best?!) and is coated in a nice thick layer of powdered sugar without using too much.
Basically, this version is muddy buddy perfection and I hope you’ll love it as much as I do!
It’s great for parties, snacks and even to give as a gift. Fill some canning jars, tie a ribbon or some twine with a nice tag and you have a perfect gift for a hostess, a teacher, or anyone in need of a pick-me-up.
What ARE muddy buddies?
Such a crazy name, right?!
Muddy buddies can go by a lot of alternate names; you may have heard them referred to as puppy chow, monkey munch, reindeer chow, or doggy bag. They get the crazy names from their appearance, sometimes looking like dog food or animal treats.
No matter the name, the delicious sweet snack remains the same – a rice cereal is coated with a melted combination of chocolate and peanut butter, and then tossed in powdered sugar. To say it is addicting is an understatement!
Cereals and substitutions
The most common cereal used for muddy buddies is Rice Chex, but sometimes Crispix is used.
If you need a gluten-free option, choose the Rice Chex (Crispix is wheat-free, but not gluten-free).
Peanut butter options and substitutions
Creamy peanut butter is the number one option for muddy buddies. I prefer brands like Jif and Skippy; avoid natural-style peanut butter that has oil separation, as it will be too oily for this recipe. You can use chunky peanut butter, as well, for an extra, well, crunch.
If you need a peanut-free substitution, these will work:
- Almond butter
- Cashew butter
- Sunbutter
- Nutella for extra chocolate!
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Chocolate tips
My preferred chocolate to use is simply semisweet chocolate chips – they’re easy and most likely to already be in your pantry!
However, if you like your muddy buddies extra sweet, you can use milk chocolate; or, for those of you in the dark chocolate camp, you can totally substitute dark chocolate. Even white chocolate is fair game! Use chips or, if using a block or bar of chocolate, finely chop it before melting.
My preferred melting method is in the microwave (see instructions in the recipe below), but if you do not have a microwave, you can melt the chocolate and peanut butter in a heatproof bowl set over a small saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until completely melted and smooth.
Variations and mix-in ideas
I absolutely adore muddy buddies as-is, but there are a million different variations you could try. Some ideas for you:
- Toss sprinkles in the powdered sugar before coating the muddy buddies.
- Stir in M&Ms – use plain ones or different flavors – or Reese’s Pieces.
- Stir in crushed candy canes (and maybe red and green M&Ms!) for some festive flavor.
- Cookies and cream with crushed Oreos and white chocolate.
- Add chopped nuts – peanuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, etc.
- Add whole chips – chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, mint chips, etc.
- Adjust the flavoring by using different extracts.
- See more muddy buddy versions below under “More Sweet Snacks”.
Storing Suggestions
Once the coating is set, you can store muddy buddies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
However! I highly, highly recommend keeping it in the refrigerator or freezer – having it cold and extra crunchy is just phenomenal! If stored this way, you can easily keep them in the fridge for up to a month or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More sweet snacks:
- Snickerdoodle Muddy Buddies
- Cinnamon-Sugar Candied Chex Mix with Pecans and Pretzels
- Malted Pretzel Crunch
- Poppy Chow (Chocolate & Peanut Butter-Covered Popcorn)
- Reindeer Chow
Watch the Recipe Video Below:
If you make this muddies buddies recipe and love it, I would so appreciate it if you would take a moment to leave a rating below. Thank you so much! ❤️️
The BEST Muddy Buddies Recipe
Ingredients
- 7 cups (243 g) Rice Chex cereal
- 1 cup (180 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup (129 g) creamy peanut butter
- ½ teaspoon (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- Pinch kosher salt
- 1½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Place the chocolate chips and peanut butter in a medium bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals on 50% power, stirring after each, until the mixture is completely melted and smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract and salt.
- Pour a little bit of the chocolate mixture into the bottom of a large bowl. Add about a third of the cereal, a third of the remaining chocolate mixture, and repeat two more times. Using a rubber spatula, gently mix it all together until all of the cereal is completely coated. Place in the refrigerator for 5 minutes.
- Place ½ cup of the powdered sugar in a gallon-size zip-top bag, top with half of the cereal mixture, another ½ cup of the powdered sugar, the rest of the cereal mixture, then the remaining ½ cup of powdered sugar. Seal the bag, then shake it very well until all of the cereal is coated with powdered sugar.
- Spread the mixture out onto a wax-paper lined sheet pan to cool and set, about 30 minutes, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
[Photography by Ari of Well Seasoned]
I still haven’t tried puppy chow… In part due to the name! But the more I see, the more I like…. This one looks awesome!
Ha! I absolutely thought the same thing the first time I heard of puppy chow! I have been meaning to try this out on my kids forever… I’m sure they’d love it. So glad to have spotted the recipe on your site. Pinning!
Growing up in Northwest Ohio, this stuff was a staple of my childhood. It is so addictive and so easy to eat the whole bowl!
For me, it has always been and forever will be Puppy Chow. No, I’m not a dog. No, it’s not dog food. Pretty sure no one would get confused on either count. That’s what it’s called. Calling it anything else is messing with my childhood!
I have been following your blog for some time, and more recently your Pinterest boards. I love seeing your new posts. I can honestly say that I have loved every recipe of yours that I’ve tried. Whenever I want to make something, and don’t know exactly what, I look on your blog for inspiration. Anyway, I was surprised to see Muddybuddies on here today. My boyfriend told me a while back that he really likes these. Looking forward to trying them, and finding one more of your recipes to add to my collection. Your blog is such a pleasure. On a side noet, your dog is gorgeous. I have two yellow labs myself, and like seeing pics with of furry friend as well. Thank you so much.
Would you believe I’ve *still* never made or eaten Muddy Buddies? I’m pretty sure I’m the very last person on earth not to have tried it. I think I need to make it happen for our next movie night!
I LOVE this stuff! It’s one of my favorite snacks for sure!
I desperately need to make muddy buddies! I’ve never tried them and they look so good!!
I love this, I would just snack on it all day long! YUM! Will I be able to put it down!?
This looks so yummy and SO addictive! I’m almost scared to try it. In England we call this type of cereal Shreddies =)
Actually, shreddies are a different cereal; they are a small version of shredded wheat which look very similar to the sweeties shown. The cereals used here are a light corn or rice cereal. I am also from England, I now teach at a Uni here in the US.
Can we all please agree to STOP calling this puppy chow? I am not a dog and I do not eat dog food. Furthermore, the stuff doesn’t even resemble dog food. If you don’t want to use the trademarked name Muddy Buddies, please find something else that is not as undignified as puppy chow.
Would you prefer robot poop?
It’s called Puppy Chow…a cute name for something that looks a little like dog food. The name Muddy Buddies was invented by the company that owns Chex because Puppy Chow was already trade-marked. Housewives had been calling it Puppy Chow for decades.
Gimme a break!
I’ve been making Puppy Chow since before Muddy Buddies were a thing.
First time making this one and I had some trouble with this recipe. It didn’t coat well with the powdered sugar. I feel like maybe I needed a larger bag to shake it. But truly delicious. I will try very hard to give some away and not eat the whole batch by myself.
LOVE muddy buddies…and I sooo prefer the name muddy buddies to puppy chow :)
I just go way too excited about this. It is one of those things I flipping love but never bothered to look up. Thanks for dropping this recipe in my lap!
We normally eat this around the holidays because I am such a huge fan I could snack on muddy buddies everyday!
I use Crispix when I make Puppy Chow. The cereal bits seem to hold up better to the mixing than the thinner pieces of Chex. I also like to spread the chocolate covered cereal on the sheet trays and let them sit for about an hour to let the chocolate /peanut butter mixture “set up” a bit BEFORE returning it to the bag to shake it with the powdered sugar. It seems to let the powdered sugar stick to the cereal better and not soak in to it. Plus, it stays crisper and fresher longer. This stuff is addicting :)
sogginess is the exact reason why I never make the snack but with your tip I will try it now, thank you!!
This is always, ALWAYS, my go-to snack. It’s quick and easy to make, and everybody is sure to love them! I shamefully admit that we use twice as much chocolate, peanut butter, and butter than your recipe calls for – with the same amount of cereal. But it coats them nicely and makes some of the pieces clump together… I’m a huge fan of Puppy Chow clumps.
A couple times I have also ground up oreo cookies – cream and all – in a food processor and mixed the crumbs with the powdered sugar before coating the cereal. It’ll give the puppy chow just a hint of the Oreo flavor. SO GOOD!
These look great – cannot wait to try them!
I love puppy chow! Love the peanut butter and chocolate combo! I don’t think I would be able to control myself from eating it all!!
It might be worth pointing out that this snack is wonderful for humans, but not suitable for animals! The name, as Michelle pointed out, can be confusing! For anyone who still hasn’t gotten the memo that chocolate can make animals sick, or even be fatal in large enough doses, don’t feed these to your pets or leave them where other animals could help themselves! That being said, I love this recipe and have seen it offered at our humane society fundraising bake sales!
What a nice, gentle, and polite way of conveying this information.
No-one wants to harm dogs. People can take information in this way, much more easily than some of the other frantic-sounding rants on this topic.
Thanks Lonna
This stuff is SO addicting! YUM!
How delicious! I can’t wait to make this myself! I have never had puppy chow before so I’m really looking forward to it! Thanks as always for your yummy recipes! :-)
These are definitely one of my favorite snacks! Love this recipe.
I LOVE PUPPY CHOW!!!!! I discovered it as an adult and have purposefully never sought out the recipe because I could eat the entire container. I think I am going to have to give in and make this very soon!!!
This sounds delicious but what can I substitute for the peanut butter? We have allergy issues here.
I have substituted the peanut butter with Sunbutter (made from sunflower seeds) for our daughter with Peanut/Tree Nut allergies and it works just fine. Sunbutter can be found in most grocery stores.
Hi Lynn, You could use almond butter, cashew butter, sunbutter, Nutella, etc. – anything like that!
Thank you!! Can’t wait to try!
I could snack on this chocolate-y peanut buttery goodness ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT LONG!
Believe it or not I’m not sure I’ve ever gotten to experience this stuff!
This recipe sounds awesome, can’t wait to make it. I came across your blog while searching for inspiration for my new blog. I love your recipes and your pictures. Thank you!
I love puppy chow! I have so many recipes and variations for it – working in white chocolate, Nutella, Cookie Butter, sprinkles, toasted buttery waffle chunks, popcorn, caramel corn. You name it, puppy chow and I are tight :) I love the blue bowl yours is in!
are you available?!?!?! you’re awesome!
These actually look SO good! And you could totally pretend that they were healthy too haha xo
Growing up my mom made muddy buddies every summer for our camping trips – we’d snack on them at the pool, in the tent, for breakfast, basically all day haha. This recipe takes me back! Thanks for putting it up!
Yeah, these are one seriously dangerous snack! LOVE them!