This peppermint crunch puppy chow is a festively sweet, completely irresistible holiday snack mix made from just Chex cereal, white chocolate, candy canes, and confectioner’s sugar. Kids love helping with the shaking step (and eating step!!). It only takes about 10 minutes to throw together and is the perfect last minute addition to any holiday cookie tray or Christmas gathering.
Listen up. Today I’m bringing one of my classic Christmas recipes back into the spotlight. Originally published in 2012 and my first “viral” recipe on my site, this Peppermint Crunch Puppy Chow has been a constant favorite for the past several years. Inspired by the candy cane Muddy Buddies that Chex sells, this foolproof recipe is extra sweet, crunchy, and requires only 4 ingredients.
Have you ever tried it? I have a few variations on my site: Nutella Puppy Chow, Cupcake Puppy Chow, and Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow, just to name a few!
Puppy Chow = Muddy Buddies
I receive a lot of confused questions about this! Depending where you live, this Chex cereal snack mix can be called Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddies. I grew up calling it puppy chow. But no, this is not dog food! It’s for humans. Originally made with peanut butter and chocolate, this holiday variation makes everyone happy. (The people, not the dogs!)
This Peppermint Crunch Puppy Chow:
- Is easy to double or triple for a big crowd
- Comes together in about 10 minutes
- Is instant holiday gratification
- Requires only 4 ingredients
- Is crunchy, sweet, and massively irresistible
It’s welcome of adaptions too. Many readers substitute the white chocolate for semi-sweet chocolate and add sprinkles along with the crushed candy canes.
How to Make Peppermint Crunch Puppy Chow
- Pour cereal into a large bowl. Use rice chex, not corn chex or wheat chex.
- Melt white chocolate. You can also use almond bark or melting white/vanilla candy wafers. I recommend pure white chocolate, which is sold as 4 ounce bars. It’s what I use for coating these peppermint bark cookies, too. I suggest melting it in the microwave.
- Pour white chocolate over cereal. Carefully mix to coat the cereal.
- Crush candy canes. You can purchase already crushed candy canes in some grocery stores. If you’re crushing the candy canes yourself, see my tip below. Fold the candy canes into the cereal. I added red and green sprinkles to the pictured puppy chow, too!
- Place into a bag or sealable container. Spoon/pour the coated cereal into a large zipped-top bag or sealable container. Seal shut.
- Shake! Add confectioners’ sugar, which acts as the coating to “set” the white chocolate, and shake until all of the cereal is coated. I slightly reduced the powdered sugar from the original version, so more of the candy canes can stick to the white chocolate. (Expect some to fall off, but most will stick!)
Kids love helping with that last step. And they LOVE this recipe. It’s sweet and festive, like my chocolate cookies with candy cane buttercream. ‘Tis the season for peppermint treats!
How to Crush Candy Canes
Have I ever taught you this before? My trick for crushing candy canes is to use a large zipped-top bag. Unwrap the candy canes, place in the bag, squeeze out the air, seal shut, then lightly bang on the candy canes with a rolling pin. Go slowly and as gently as you can. The candy canes will puncture the bag a little bit, but if you go slowly, they won’t come flying out—I promise.
This is how I crush candy canes for peppermint bark, too.
If you need a quick last minute treat for a cookie exchange, potluck, gathering, holiday party, or something to munch on while making Christmas cookies, whip up a batch of this stuff. I love giving it away in little Christmas treat bags, too. It’s CRAZY to watch how people flock to this stuff—kids and adults alike! (And knowing how simple it is, too!)
More Easy Christmas Treats
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Peppermint Crunch Puppy Chow
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 5 cups
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Sweet snack mix made with white chocolate and candy canes. Perfect to serve or give away during the holiday season!
Ingredients
- 5 cups (135g) Rice Chex cereal
- 10 ounces (282g) white chocolate, finely chopped*
- 1 cup crushed peppermint candy canes (about 8–10 large candy canes)*
- 3/4 cup (90g) confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Pour the cereal into a large bowl.
- Melt white chocolate. You can use a double boiler or the microwave. If using the microwave, melt in 20 second increments, stopping and stirring after each until completely smooth and melted. Pour melted chocolate over cereal, stirring and folding until the cereal is completely covered. Fold in the crushed candy canes.
- Pour the warm chocolate covered cereal/candy canes in a large zipped-top bag or sealable container. Add the confectioners’ sugar. Seal the bag or container and shake until all the cereal is coated with the confectioners’ sugar.
- Discard any excess confectioners’ sugar. Store at room temperature up to 1 week or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, if it lasts that long!
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: This snack mix can be prepped a week ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to serve. You can also prepare and freeze this snack mix for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Double Boiler | Silicone Spatula | Large Zipped-Top Bag | Rolling Pin (to crush candy canes)
- White Chocolate: Use 4-ounce white chocolate baking bars, such as Bakers or Ghirardelli brands, found in the baking aisle next to the chocolate chips. (You will need 2.5 of them to yield 10 ounces.) Don’t use white chocolate chips. Chocolate chips contain stabilizers and are processed so that they DO NOT melt in the oven. You can also use almond bark or white/vanilla melting chips often found in the seasonal section of the grocery store.
- Candy Canes: See above for how to easily crush candy canes. In addition to the 1 cup of crushed candy canes, I added 3 Tablespoons of red and green sprinkles. That’s optional.
I melted the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave. I stirred the Chex into the melted chocolate in the bowl until coated, then sprinkled with the peppermint and mixed well. I then added in the (reduced) sugar and sprinkles and mixed again. It worked great, and I only dirtied one bowl. It looked good. I also added a bit of red colored sugar to the confectioner’s sugar which enhanced the appearance. Peppermint flavor was a bit light; next time I will increase peppermint or add a bit of peppermint oil. Overall, it was great! Thanks for the recipe.
This recipe was so easy and fun. I made it today and ate a handful already! Looking forward to sharing it this evening.
Merry Christmas ❤️
Hey, could I do wheat Chex for this recipe?
Hi Theresa, we recommend rice chex, not corn chex or wheat chex here.
This recipe sounded really good but when I made it it was too sickeningly sweet to eat :/ is there anyway to lessen the sweetness?
Hi Sally,
We don’t have Rice Chex cereal in Canada. What other cereal would you recommend. Appreciate all your recipes!
Hi Nora, do you have another similar square-shaped rice cereal available to you? Keep in mind that other brands/cereals can sometimes break more easily—for example, Crispex tends to break and make for a very messy puppy chow. Hope you can find something that works!
Made this last year and planning to make it again this weekend. It’s so delicious and highly addictive – I call it Christmas Crack. Haha.