Imagine whipping up a big, delicious batch of puppy chow, loaded with extra chocolate and peanut butter, all wrapped up in a sweet coat of powdered sugar—truly a taste of Midwest summer! Here’s how you can make it:
You’ll need a 12-ounce box of Rice Chex cereal, about 10 cups worth, along with 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips, 1 cup of peanut butter, half a cup of salted butter, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and around 2 cups of powdered sugar (feel free to add more if you like it extra sweet).
Start by melting the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter together. Do this in a large microwave-safe bowl, zapping them for 30 seconds at a time until they’re smoothly melted. Next, stir in the vanilla and salt.
Now, pour this gooey chocolate mixture over the cereal. Since it’s a pretty large batch, you might want to divide it between two big bowls. Mix gently with a wooden spoon, being careful not to crush the cereal.
Next, transfer the chocolate-coated cereal into a large bag and sprinkle the powdered sugar over it. Then comes the fun part: shake the bag gently to coat all the pieces. I like to aim for a mix of wet and dry pieces for the best clumps, rather than trying to get each piece perfectly dry and individually coated.
Spread everything out on a couple of baking sheets or just lay it out on parchment paper to cool and set. For the best flavor and crunch, store your puppy chow in the freezer.
A quick tip: if using a paper bag sounds odd to you, just use a couple of plastic Ziplock bags instead. They’re smaller, so you’ll need to do a few batches, but they work just as well. And although it might seem more logical to add the powdered sugar to the bag before the cereal, I’ve found you get better clusters by doing it the other way around.
There you have it—your very own mouthwatering treat ready in about 25 minutes without even turning on the oven! Enjoy your homemade puppy chow, perfect for any sweet craving or as a fun party snack.
