Christmas Puppy Chow [Easy Muddy Buddies Recipe]

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This Christmas puppy chow recipe is the perfect snack for this holiday season. The classic recipe is a unique, mouth-watering no-bake dessert to add to your snack menu for upcoming holiday parties.

Add this holiday treat to your snack table on any occasion and see how its funny name sparks numerous conversions on lively topics.

So, the Christmas puppy chow or muddy buddy recipe is a variation of puppy chow or muddy buddies.

It resembles puppy chow which is a typical dog food that is fed to puppies. It is a recipe made from Chex Cereals, a breakfast Cereal produced by General Mills.

Native Mid-Westerners pride themselves in the delicious, quick-to-fix recipe. Having made the recipe since childhood on various occasions, I was eager to prepare a large batch, divide and pack in beautiful packs, and have them during the holiday season.

Quick No-Bake Recipe

The fact that you can take less than ten minutes to assemble the recipe reminds me of an experience that happened at a Junior cooking competition years back.

This recipe impressed the judges who awarded the young contestant that I had coached and trained second position in a very fierce competition! The junior chefs were expected to prepare a three-course menu within three hours.

My student was six years old at that time, the youngest among the competitors.

I was tasked to ensure my little chef was able to prepare dishes that required minimal supervision by an adult.

She really wanted to bake a cake for her dessert, but we had to change plans.

We settled on a stacked vegetable starter, the main meal was a shepherd's pie and the only dessert that could fit within that time frame was Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddies.

Oh, the little girl washed vegetables, peeled potatoes, and cooked minced meat, to mention a few of the steps that she had to carry out.

After all the hustle and multi-tasking, the little chef was left with a few minutes.

A close up of Christmas puppy chow food.

She managed to successfully prepare and present a three-course meal thanks to the yummy Mid-Western snack that resembles and is named after dog food. A medal hangs in her room to this day.

Christmas Puppy Chows will cause all the sugar rush keeping the children excited and on the run.

After a bath, all the children will easily fall asleep because they will be thoroughly played up.

The Ingredients

Christmas puppy chow ingredients in bowls and a plate.

Chex Cereal

Made by General Mills, this airy and crunchy rice chex cereal is a popular breakfast cereal in many households. I also love it as I can easily see the nutritional information at the back of the chex cereal box.

Chocolate Chips

The chocolate chips bring the chocolatey flavor and create a sticky surface for the powdered sugar. Chocolate in whatever form is an all-time favorite in my family.

Salted Butter

Butter introduces a rich fermented milky flavor in the recipe, providing moisture too. The salt contained in the butter makes the other flavors pop out once the Christmas Puppy Chows land on your taste buds.

Vanilla Essence

Vanilla is my all-time flavoring favorite in baking! Vanilla blends well with the chocolate and enhances the aroma of the Christmas Puppy Chow.

Peanut Butter

This is a rich and healthy ingredient that gives a nutty flavor to the Christmas Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddies. Chocolate and peanuts make a beautiful blend of flavors. You can also use peanut butter chips.

Powdered Sugar

This is the last ingredient that is used for coating the puppy chows. It is powdery and sweet, therefore loved by the little ones. I attribute all the sugar rush I see in my house to this ingredient whenever we make the recipe Puppy Chow.

Colored Candies and Sprinkles

These ingredients introduce a fruity flavor into the Puppy Chow, and their attractive colors capture the theme of the Christmas season.

The Equipment

Saucepan

A heavy-based pan is ideal for melting the butter and chocolate chips over low heat.

Spatula

This tool will be handy as you stir and scrape off the delicious chocolate from the saucepan, as well as mixing the melted goodness with the cereal.

Freezer bag

This item is essential in the coating of chocolate-coated cereal with a layer of powdered sugar. Little mess, few dishes!

Mixing bowl

A round mixing bowl is suitable as you coat the cereal with melted chocolate butter and peanut butter.

Substitution

A close up of peanut butter coated cereal.

Chex Cereal

Any crunchy cereal with almost the same shape can be used as a substitute. If you cannot find Chex Cereal, rice krispies or corn flakes can work too.

Chocolate Chips

On a good day, I will not substitute this ingredient lol ..but you could use peanut butter or any nut butter and omit the chocolate.

Butter

This ingredient can be substituted with coconut oil, peanut oil, or avocado oil.

Peanut Butter

This gooey and velvety ingredient can be substituted with any other nut butter, such as almond butter or cashew nut butter.

Powdered Sugar

This ingredient can be substituted by caster sugar or stevia (though it is a bit pricey, stevia contains fewer calories!) You can sprinkle the stevia powder on the Puppy Chow, which is said to be ten times sweeter than cane sugar.

How to make this recipe

Measure out the ingredients (Chex Cereal, 1 cup peanut butter, chocolate chips, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar) and set them aside in bowls.

Place the peanut butter, chocolate chips, and peanut butter into a saucepan. Put it on the stove, and carefully place the saucepan after regulating the heat to low heat.

Continuously and carefully stir the ingredients until they melt. When the ingredients are melted except for a few chocolate chips, hold the pan with pot holders, and pour melted ingredients into the bowl with Chex Cereals.

Stir and coat all the cereals with chocolatey and peanut sauce.

Pouring the mixture into the 2 cups of Chex cereal in a mixing bowl.

Peanut butter , chocolate and cereal mix in a mixing tin.

Mix until all the cereal is coated.

Put the powdered sugar into the freezer bag. Scoop the mixture into the plastic bag, zip it, and begin to gently toss the cereal mixture, coating it with powdered sugar.

When it's properly mixed, open the bag spill the mixture onto a tray lined with a baking sheet, and spread the mixture into a single layer. Scoop the Puppy Chow into a plate and creatively decorate it with a sprinkle of chocolate chips, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and marshmallows.

This Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddy easy recipe is a great holiday snack mix and the best part is that to make the Christmas version, you only need to decorate the original Puppy Chow recipe with simple ingredients such as a couple of green and red M and M's.

I had some green and red sprinkles that we added to the mixture, thereby capturing the theme of the season.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you freeze Christmas Puppy Chow?

Looking back at the consumption patterns every time I have made the snack, there is hardly anything to freeze. But just in case you have some left, the Puppy Chows can freeze the so that they can stay for a long time. The best way to do this is to put the Christmas Puppy chows in the plastic bag, remove the air bubbles from the bag, then freeze them.

Why do my Christmas Puppy Chow/Muddy Buddies get soggy?

In an eagerness to taste the sweet treat, you can easily skip the drying step! It is essential to spread the mixture onto a tray and let them dry for ten to fifteen minutes in a place where air flows freely.
When the Christmas Puppy Chow is put in an airtight container before the chocolate dries up, the moisture from the butter and chocolate will definitely make the Christmas Puppy Chows soggy.
Crunchiness is the last quality you would want to lose on this delicious snack.

How do you store the Christmas Puppy Chow /Muddy Buddies?

The Christmas Puppy Chows or Muddy Buddies will keep longer in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
This form of storage is especially critical if your kitchen is located in a hot, humid area. When stored like this, freshness will be guaranteed for about two weeks.

Are Christmas Muddy Buddies/ Puppy Chows gluten-free?

Christmas Puppy chow is gluten-free! Gluten-free snacks are rare to find, especially at parties; this recipe saves the day.
Gluten-free products have gained popularity in the recent past. I was glad that my son, who happens to be gluten intolerant, had a sweet snack that he could happily indulge in.

Expert Tips

Six different ingredients in glass bowls.

If its your first time making this recipe you need to be aware of some essential tips to help you come up with such great recipes. To maintain the crunchiness, It's essential to let the Christmas Puppy Chow dry.

Toss the Christmas Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddies onto a tray lined with a baking sheet and spread the mixture to form a single layer. This step will prevent the chow from becoming soggy.

To avoid a mess on the kitchen counter, line up a bowl with a reusable or freezer bag before adding the powdered sugar.

Using a bowl to support the freezer bag will ensure the chocolate-coated mixture in the zip lock bag does not flop and spill the contents onto the counter as you fill the bag.

This is definitely one of the best puppy chow recipe ideas for the holidays. I'm sure your family will love these delicious treats.