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Who’s up for Muddy Buddies? Smooth chocolate, salty peanut butter, and a light dusting of powdered sugar make this crispy Chex cereal snack a true favorite!
A Crunchy, Sweet Snack Recipe
Muddy buddies. Puppy chow. Reindeer treats. Monkey munch. Whatever you call it, this amazing snack is utterly addictive! Each piece of crispy cereal is coated in a homemade chocolate peanut butter sauce, and then a light layer of powdered sugar. Once you have one bite, you’ll come back for another, and another, and another…
Plus, it’s incredibly easy to make. In no time at all, you’ll be in snack time heaven. Not sure you can finish it all? No problem! Freeze the rest, or pack it into a cute tin for a perfect little gift.
What Are Muddy Buddies Made Of?
Okay, let’s talk ingredients. This iconic sweet snack is made with a trio of scrumptious flavors: chocolate, peanut butter, and crispy cereal. Here’s what you’ll need to bring it together:
- Chex: You’ll need about 8 cups Chex cereal.
- Chocolate: I like to use semisweet chocolate chunks.
- Peanut Butter: The peanut butter should be at room temperature.
- Butter: Soften the butter as well, before using.
- Vanilla: For the best flavor, opt for pure vanilla extract over imitation.
- Powdered Sugar: To give the muddy buddies their classic snowy coating.
- Sea Salt: You could also use kosher salt or regular salt, to taste.
Can I Use Milk Chocolate Chips Instead of Semisweet?
Sure! You can use just about any chocolate. Just keep in mind that with the addition of powdered sugar, this recipe is already quite sweet, so using milk chocolate could make it too sweet for some tastes!
Let’s Make Muddy Buddies!
Since it’s basically just a melt-and-stir recipe, muddy buddies come together in minutes. Here’s how you do it.
- Get the Cereal Ready. To start, get out a big mixing bowl, and pour the dry cereal into it. Alternatively, divide the cereal between two big zip-top bags.
- Make the Chocolate Sauce. Get a medium saucepan with an inch or two of water heating on the stove, to a steady simmer. Place the chocolate chunks, peanut butter, and regular butter in a large, heat proof mixing bowl. Set the bowl on top of the saucepan, turn the heat to low, and stir. Once the ingredients are melted and blended together, mix in the sea salt and vanilla.
- Coat the Cereal in the Chocolate Sauce. Pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal, and stir gently with a spatula to coat.
- Coat the Mixture with Powdered Sugar. Finally, dump in the powdered sugar, and toss to coat.
- Enjoy!
Helpful Tips
As you can imagine, a snack like muddy buddies has tons of easy substitution options. These are my top tips for tweaking the base recipe to use different ingredients.
- Cereal Options: You can use any kind of Chex cereal for this recipe, or substitute a similar cereal such as Crispix.
- Chocolate Choices: If you don’t have chocolate chunks, try using chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, dark chocolate, etc.
- Peanut Butter Substitutions: Muddy buddies are also super yummy with sunflower seed butter, almond butter, and other nut butters. Just avoid the ones that have to be stirred – they’re not cohesive enough to stick the chocolate sauce together.
Yummy Variations
The sky’s the limit with variations on this recipe, so feel free to add anything you like! Any kind of nuts or candy is fair game. Here are just a few additions to try:
- Crushed candy canes or peppermints
- M&Ms
- Crushed Heath bars or Butterfingers
- Crushed cookies (like Oreos)
- Slivered almonds, chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, etc
- Mini peanut butter cups
How to Store This Snack
- Generally, this is stored at room temperature, or frozen for longer storage. If you’re keeping it at room temp, store in zip-top bags or some kind of airtight container, and use within one week.
Can I Freeze Muddy Buddies?
- Definitely! In fact, you can make and freeze this treat up to two months in advance. Just store in freezer bags, pop it in the freezer, and mark with the date.
Muddy Buddies
Ingredients
- 8 cups Chex Mix cereal,, any type you prefer
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter,, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons butter,, softened at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Place cereal in a large mixing bowl.
- Place the semisweet chocolate chunks, peanut butter, and softened butter in a large, heat proof mixing bowl.
- Place the mixing bowl over a saucepan with about 2-inches of simmering water. Turn the heat to low and stir until the ingredients are completely melted and blended together.
- Add the sea salt and vanilla to the chocolate mixture and stir well to combine.
- Pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal, and stir gently with a spatula to evenly coat.
- Pour in the powdered sugar, and toss to coat.
- Serve, or store until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Muddy buddies are my favorite sweet treat to make. They’re super easy and I actually DO love to freeze batches of it. Great recipe.
Thank YOU! Please enjoy! 🙂
Fantastic recipe! Classic and always delicious treat!
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
This is one of my kids favorite snack! Love that its so easy to make too!
That’s great! I hope they enjoy these! Thank YOU! 🙂
This is a hit for sure in our house! Definitely a must make!
I hope everyone enjoys it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Oh my goodness! This treat looks amazing and my kids will love it!
Thank you so much! I hope everyone enjoys it! 🙂
My brothers love these! They seriously can’t get enough of it!
That’s great! I’m very glad everyone likes it! Thank YOU! 🙂