Sweet, crunchy, addictive, and delicious, this Peppermint Puppy Chow is a great holiday gift. It is super easy to throw together and packages well for a cute presentation. Made from Chex Cereal, white chocolate, candy canes, and powdered sugar, it's easily made in no time.
This is a classic Christmas recipe that we've been making for years. It is a huge hit with kids (and adults) of all ages and makes a super cute holiday gift for neighbors, friends, and coworkers.
This Peppermint Crunch Puppy Chow is based on the Muddy Buddies that Chex sells, but it's just as easy to make your own at home. You can call it Peppermint Muddy Buddies or Peppermint Bark Puppy Chow or whatever you want.
Ingredients
- Rice Chex Cereal - corn chex would also work but we prefer rice
- White Baking Chocolate - you can use a vanilla candy coating like Candiquik or Ghirardelli wafers
- Candy Canes - chopped, peppermint flavor only
- Powdered Sugar
How To Make Peppermint Puppy Chow
- Melt white chocolate over low heat on the stovetop, stirring often. You can also melt the chocolate in the microwave. Just place in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in 30-second increments, stirring often. I like to use pure white chocolate. See notes below for more details.
- Pour Rice Chex into a big bowl.
- When the white chocolate is melted, pour over the Rice Chex and stir gently to coat the cereal completely.
- Crush the candy canes by placing them all into a Ziploc bag. Remove the air and gently hit them with a rolling pin or meat mallet. You can also purchase already crushed candy canes which will have a more uniform size. Add red and green sprinkles or any other fun candy cane shapes and flavors you find.
- Add the candy canes and stir.
- Add powdered sugar to a large Ziploc. Add puppy chow in batches and shake until evenly coated.
How Do I Melt White Chocolate?
White chocolate can be temperamental when melted so be sure to do it slowly and at low heat. I always use a white chocolate bar broken into pieces as this works better than white chocolate chips. The most successful way to melt them is by using a double boiler. It's more work but does give the best results.
Fill a pot with about one inch of water and turn it to high to get it boiling. Place the white chocolate into a bowl that fits nicely over the pot. As soon as the water begins to boil turn it down to simmer. Stir the chocolate and let it melt gently to avoid clumping.
If you prefer the quicker method of using the microwave, place the broken-up pieces of white chocolate bar into a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat it in 20-second increments removing it from the microwave oven and stirring it each time. Heat until melted.
Storing Peppermint Muddy Buddies
We like to store our Christmas Chex Mix in a big plastic container to keep it extra fresh. You can also store it in an airtight Ziploc bag and it should last for about a week. If you are gifting it put it in cute glass jars and make it festive with ribbons and more candy canes.
More Christmas Recipes
- Gluten Free Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies
- Chocolate Sheet Cake
- Gluten Free Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
- Creamy Chocolate Peppermint Cups
- Gluten Free Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Seven Layer Bars
Peppermint Christmas Puppy Chow
Ingredients
- 7 cups Rice Chex cereal
- 12 oz white melting chocolate
- 4-5 candy canes , crushed wth a few larger pieces remaining
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Melt white chocolate over low heat on the stovetop, stirring often.
- Pour Rice Chex in a big bowl.
- When chocolate is melted, pour over the Rice Chex and stir gently.
- Add the candy canes and stir.
- Pour powdered sugar into a large ziploc. Add puppy chow in batches and shake until coated.
- Add candy cane sprinkles.
Tell Us What You Think