Easter Muddy Buddies Spring Puppy Chow Mix

Muddy Buddies (aka Puppy Chow) is our go-to snack for pretty much every holiday. Add different holiday M&Ms and different colored sprinkles and Muddy Buddies can fit any celebration. Today, we are showing you how to make Easter Muddy Buddies (Easter Bunny Chow) that is easy to make and even easier to eat.

This recipe is my kid’s favorite snack and I’m not sure why we always wait until holidays to make it but here we are. After you make this, if you are looking for another fun Easter treat, check out the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Flowers that we made earlier this week.

PUPPY CHOW VS MUDDY BUDDIES?

So which is it – Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddies? Well, it’s both depending on who you ask.

Sometimes puppy chow goes by other—less confusing—names, the next most popular being Muddy Buddies, the official name used by General Mills, which produces both Chex, the main ingredient, and a commercial version of the product. It occasionally goes by “monkey munch” or, playing up its Christmastime association, “reindeer chow.” But most commonly (and in its geographical heartland exclusively), it is puppy chow. 

General Mills, the owner and producer of the Chex cereal brand since 1996, says that the Muddy Buddies recipe was developed in 2002. In 2009, the company introduced the packaged version, sold only as a seasonal product until 2011.

Taste Cooking

While GM claims that it was developed in 2002, I clearly remember eating “Puppy Chow” growing up in the 80s in the Midwest so take that with a grain of salt. I definitely think the recipe has been around for decades but General Mills just wanted to claim a date on it.

PUPPY CHOW MIX-INS

The great thing about Puppy Chow (or Easter Chow) is that you can add any types of “toppings” that you’d like from peanuts to M&Ms to mini peanut butter cups. It’s really up to you. I like the traditional Puppy Chow with M&Ms thrown in but I wouldn’t turn it down if there were other toppings too.

INGREDIENTS

4 1/2 cups Rice Chex cereal

4 1/2 cups Peanut Butter Chex cereal

1/4 cup butter

1 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup M&Ms

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup sprinkles

HOW TO MAKE EASTER MUDDY BUDDIES

1.Combine the Peanut Butter Chex and the Rice Chex into one large bowl.

2. Melt chocolate, butter and peanut butter together in a microwave safe bowl for one minute. If the chocolate is not melted all the way, add 15 second intervals in the microwave so that you don’t overcook it.

3. Stir the vanilla into the chocolate mixture.

4. Pour the chocolate mixture over the Chex cereal.

5. Mix to coat the cereal.

6. Put the chocolate coated cereal into a large ziploc bag. Add in the powdered sugar.

7. Seal the bag closed and shake to coat the cereal.

8. Spread the mix on a lined baking sheet. Gently add the colored M&Ms and sprinkles.

Chill in the fridge (or freezer) for 10 minutes to set the chocolate. Enjoy.