Name: Christmas Puppy Chow
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 + 1/2 Cups pretzels ((mini twists, sticks, or holiday shaped)); 2 ounces white chocolate chips ((2 oz = ~ 1/2 Cup)); 1/8 teaspoon neutral oil ((canola, vegetable, or grapeseed)); 1 Tablespoon holiday sprinkles; 8 Cups Rice Chex Cereal; 1 , 12 ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips ((12oz package = about 1.5 Cups)); 1 Cup creamy peanut butter; 1 + 3/4 Cups powdered sugar; 1 + 1/2 Cups milk chocolate holiday m&m candies

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Christmas puppy chow is a festive twist on a classic Midwestern treat! With our easy to follow directions, step-by-step photos, and tips for success, you’ll be mixing up a great batch of homemade holiday puppy chow in no time.

A holiday bowl filled high with Christmas puppy chow with additional pretzels, m&ms, and decor around it.

Who doesn’t love Puppy chow?! It’s sweet and salty, has that awesome peanut butter and chocolate combo in every bite, and it’s a crunchy treat to munch on… YUM. While puppy chow is a great treat anytime of year, adding festive touches to it just makes it the perfect treat for the Christmas season. Plus, any excuse to use holiday m&ms and sprinkles is good in my book!

I’ve been making no bake treats with cereal for as long as I can remember… whether it’s a twist on a classic rice krispie bar like our chocolate krispie treats or lucky charm treats, or a variation of puppy chow like our strawberry puppy chow or our Oreo puppy chow… cereal treats are just the best! Using various cereals adds fun texture to your treats and is an easy way to mix up something fun!

If you love no bake dessert recipes as much as we do, we’ve also created another holiday recipe for muddy buddies without peanut butter called reindeer chow that’s a great alternative to this option if you know someone who cannot have peanuts (or prefers white chocolate). If that’s not an issue for you, you can do what our family does by eating these two recipes alongside each other for an extra fun holiday treat experience!

Why You’ll Love Our Puppy Chow Recipe for Christmas

The perfect blend of chocolate and peanut butter. We’ve found the ideal ratio of chocolate to peanut butter, resulting in the very best muddy buddies!

No butter needed. I never skimp on butter if it’s necessary, but you simply don’t need it to make amazing puppy chow! Our recipe amps up the peanut butter to create the perfect ratio of the chocolate peanut butter coating for this treat.

Easy and cute. You’ll have this treat made and ready to enjoy in about 15 minutes (without having to turn on the oven!). And with the holiday m&ms and sprinkle-topped pretzels, it’s just darn cute too.

Fun to make (and fun to eat)! There is just something fun about shaking up a batch of puppy chow to coat it in powdered sugar.

Great recipe for the kids to help with! With minimal steps, no stove or oven work, and easy directions, this recipe is a great opportunity to get the kids involved if they’re wanting to help.

Ingredients Needed

Rice Chex Cereal. The classic base ingredient for any puppy chow or muddy buddy recipe.
Creamy Peanut Butter. Used as a part of our coating, this is a must for a classic puppy chow.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate. The other part of our coating, semi-sweet chocolate is the perfect pairing for our peanut butter. You can use a bar chocolate or chocolate chips.
Powdered Sugar. Sometimes called confectioners sugar, this is what gives our puppy chow that classic, powdery coating.
Holiday Milk Chocolate m&ms. Adding red and green m&ms into our puppy chow is what gives it that first pop of holiday fun.
Pretzels. We use classic mini twist pretzels, but you can use pretzel sticks (broken in half works best), holiday pretzels, or whatever shape you like best! The only kind I wouldn’t recommend is the large pretzel rods.
White Chocolate. Used to drizzle on our pretzels for this recipe. You can use a bar of white chocolate, white chocolate chips, almond bark, or white melting wafers for this recipe (you only need ½ Cup).
Holiday Sprinkles. Added to our white chocolate pretzels for that final, festive touch. We’ve used holiday jimmies, but you can use nonpareils, confetti sprinkles (sometimes called quins), or whatever holiday blend of sprinkles you’d like!

See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for full instructions and ingredient measurements.

How to Make Christmas Muddy Buddies

Prep. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Set out another piece of parchment paper (on the counter or on another baking sheet). Place the powdered sugar in a gallon sized zip-top bag and set aside.

Make the festive pretzels. Microwave your white chocolate and neutral oil in 30-second increments, stirring after each cycle, until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.

Process shot showing white chocolate being drizzled over pretzels.

Create a single layer of pretzels on your second piece of parchment paper and drizzle the melted white chocolate over the pretzels.

Process shot showing sprinkles being sprinkled onto white chocolate drizzled pretzels.

Top with holiday sprinkles and allow the chocolate to set up before breaking apart (placing them in the fridge helps).

Process shot showing peanut butter on chocolate chips in a bowl before melting.

Make the puppy chow. Place the Chex cereal into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Put the chocolate chips and peanut butter into a microwave safe bowl.

Process shot showing the melted chocolate and peanut butter being poured over the Chex cereal.

Microwave the chocolate and peanut butter in 30-second increments, stirring after each cycle, until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Pour over the Chex.

Process shot showing the cereal and melted chocolate mixture being stirred together.

Gently stir to coat the cereal.

Process shot showing a close up of the chocolate coated cereal.

For the best results, continue to stir until you no longer see any cereal (see the tip below).

Expert Puppy Chow Tip

Be sure to fully coat your cereal with the melted chocolate and peanut butter mixture. Take an extra minute or two to continue stirring the melted chocolate and cereal together to ensure all parts are well coated (you don’t want to see any bare cereal). This allows the powder sugar to fully coat your treats, resulting in the very best puppy chow.

Process shot showing the chocolate coated cereal being poured into the zip top baggie with powdered sugar in it.

Place the coated cereal into the resealable plastic bag with the powdered sugar.

Process shot showing a zip-top baggie filled with puppy chow after being shaken up.

Close the bag and shake to coat the cereal with the powdered sugar. Peak in and add more powdered sugar if needed.

Process shot showing the puppy chow being poured out onto a lined baking sheet.

Pour the coated cereal onto a lined cookie sheet and spread it to the edges to allow any wet areas of the mixture to dry.

Christmas puppy chow on a baking sheet, with additional pretzels, m&ms, and decor around it.

Stir in the m&ms and white chocolate drizzled pretzels and enjoy!

Recipe Variations

Swap out some or all of the Rice Chex. Some people like to use a blend of Rice Chex and Corn Chex (just use equal portions of each) for puppy chow. Crispix is another great alternative to the Rice Chex (replace the Rice Chex completely).

Mix-in different candies. You could swap out the milk chocolate m&ms for peanut m&ms or Cadbury mini ‘snow ball’ candies. If you just can’t get enough peanut butter and chocolate, mix in 1 – 1.5 Cups of mini peanut butter cups too! You could also mix in mini Oreo cookies, or other chocolate-based holiday treats you enjoy. Have fun with it!

Storing Holiday Puppy Chow

Store puppy chow in an airtight container or zip top bag for up to 1 week at room temperature or up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. You can also freeze this treat for up to 2 months if desired.

Love this Recipe? Try One of These Easy Christmas Treats Next!

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Comments

5 from 4 votes