Strawberry muddy buddies, also known as puppy chow, is a sweet and crunchy treat that's perfect for Valentine's Day, party favor bags, and snacking. Chex cereal is coated in white chocolate and tossed in a strawberry sugar mixture.
Why you'll love this recipe
Flavor/texture: Sweet, crunchy, real strawberry flavor.
No artificial flavors. This recipe is made with freeze-dried strawberries for real strawberry flavor and color.
No-bake. There's no baking involved, so it makes a great last-minute treat!
Perfect for: Valentine's Day, birthday parties, baby showers, everyday snacking.
Similar to: Lemon Muddy Buddies and Snickerdoodle Muddy Buddies
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Chex cereal - I recommend using rice chex or corn chex. However, any type of plain chex works as a substitute - choose your favorite.
- White chocolate chips - Can be substituted with white chocolate melting wafers.
- Freeze-dried strawberries - These are a must. They add the strawberry flavor and pink color to your muddy buddies. Either use freeze-dried strawberries that are processed into a powder, or purchase freeze-dried strawberry powder.
- Confectioner's sugar - Coats your cereal mixture and clings to the white chocolate coating.
How to make strawberry muddy buddies
- Carefully warm chocolate chips (or melting wafers) in a microwave safe bowl and stir until melted.
- Pour over chex cereal and stir until coated.
- Add to a plastic bag along with the freeze-dried strawberry powder and confectioner's sugar.
- Seal and toss until evenly coated. Pour out onto a sheet pan and allow chocolate to set before serving.
Tips and tricks
Freeze-dried strawberries - For this recipe, you'll need freeze dried strawberries as well as a food processor or spice/coffee grinder. Crunchies brand of freeze-dried strawberries is the brand I like to use. It is available in a .8 ounce bag (the exact amount needed for this recipe).
How to make strawberry powder - Add your freeze-dried strawberries to the bowl of a food processor and grind until they resemble a fine powder. It should only take about ten seconds.
Serve a crowd - As written, this recipe makes about eight half-cup servings. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to feed a crowd.
Mix in a bowl or bag - For easy cleanup, mix your muddy buddies in a large, gallon-sized plastic bag. It's easy to seal and shake to mix. Otherwise, a large bowl and spoon can get the job done.
Excess sugar? - Don't worry if you see excess confectioner's sugar in the bottom of the bag or bowl. Not all of the sugar is meant to stick on the cereal - this is normal.
Storage
Muddy buddies will last about 1 week when stored in a tightly sealed container at room temperature, but is best within 3 to 4 days.
Frequently asked questions
Muddy buddies is also known as puppy chow, reindeer chow, reindeer mix, or muddy munch.
It should go without saying, but (after receiving several comments about this) muddy buddies is for humans only, not dogs. This popular American snack was nicknamed "puppy chow" due to its similar look to the dog food with the same name.
For more information, check out: Wikipedia: Puppy chow (snack)
Allow your muddy buddies to dry completely before storing. Otherwise, the wet chocolate can build up moisture in the container it's stored in and make the cereal soggy.
No, it can be stored safely at room temperature. I'd recommend storing in the refrigerator if your home is very warm and the chocolate begins to melt.
Yes! I'd recommend adding in about 1 cup of mix-ins for every 4 cups of chex cereal used. Here are a few ideas to get you started: mini pretzels, mini marshmallows, M&M's candies, crushed cookie pieces, almonds, or cashews.
No, this recipe only works using freeze-dried strawberries because the moisture has been removed. This not only concentrates the flavor, but also allows us to use it in recipes where excess moisture would make the other ingredients soggy.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Strawberry Muddy Buddies (Puppy Chow)
Ingredients
- 4 cups chex cereal
- 1 cup white chocolate chips, or melting wafers
- .8 ounces freeze-dried strawberries
- ⅓ cup confectioner's sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add cereal. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, microwave white chocolate chips for 30 seconds, stir. Microwave for additional 30 second increments until chips are melted and smooth. Pour chocolate over cereal and stir carefully to fully cover but not break the cereal. Pour cereal mixture into a large gallon size plastic bag.
- In a spice grinder or food processor, grind freeze dried strawberries into a powder.
- Pour ground strawberry powder and confectioner's sugar over cereal and seal bag. Shake to evenly coat cereal.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and pour cereal mixture into a single layer. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes (or until chocolate has hardened). Store in an airtight container until ready to serve.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Storage: Muddy buddies will keep for up to a week in a tightly sealed container at room temperature and will lose its crunchiness over time.
- Optional mix-ins: Try adding 1 cup of mix-ins for every 4 cups of cereal used: pretzels, m&m's candies, or cookie pieces.
- How many does this serve?: This recipe serves about 8 heaping half cups. For a large party, try doubling or tripling this recipe.
Great recipe.!!
I plan to try these over the holidays. I wondered about mixing the strawberries into the melted white chocolate, to tone down the pink fingers situation all over my house. Do you think that would wreck the chocolate?
Hi Linda, I haven't tried this so I can't say for sure how it would turn out. My instinct says that the powder could make the chocolate clumpy, and the acidity of it could make the chocolate seize. If you do decide to give it a try, let us know how it works out!
Can you use nestle quick strawberry mix or strawberry jello for the strawberry flavor?
Thanks Jenny
I haven't tried either of these options so I can't say for sure how they'd turn out. If you give either a try, let us know how it goes!
can’t wait to try this! thanks for sharing! just wondering how much strawberry powder to use if you dont grind them up?
Hi olive, I used an entire .8 ounce bag, which is 23 grams if you have a kitchen scale. I didn't measure it with measuring spoons but I'd estimate it's between 3 and 4 tablespoons of powder. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!
could you use chocolate chips and have a chocolate covered strawberry situation??
Yes, milk chocolate or dark chocolate would work.
This was the perfect recipe for my galentines party a few days ago! Unfortunately I spilled powdered sugar all over my freshly resurfaced floors, so the cleanup was insane, but the recipe was worth it! I added pink and red M&M's as a mix-in and it was so good. Can't wait to try out different variations.
Can I sub dark chocolate for white chocolate?
Yes, dark chocolate would work.
These are fantastic!! I substituted candy melts for the white chocolate but the strawberry flavor is what really shines here. I carefully researched and chose this recipe because it used real strawberries instead of cake mix or jello and my intuition was right. The strawberry flavor is authentic and amazing. Will make again and again!!
I tried this. 1/4c white chocolate, 1/4c mounded with peanut butter chocolate, roughly a 1/4c (No added sugar) skippy peanut butter, pinch of salt to taste. Then followed recipe. Came out pretty good. My take on PBJ muddy buddies.
Could do 3 batches of it and do 1 strawberry, 1 plain white and 1 blueberry. 4th of July celebration.
Hi Mary, what a fun idea! This could definitely work - the freeze dried strawberry powder could be substituted with other freeze dried fruits, like blueberries or bananas if you can find them. You can also omit the freeze dried powder to make a plain 'white chocolate' version. Or, add a few dots of food coloring to the melted chocolate to add color.
Can this be made ahead and stored? If so how long would it last?
Hi Ashley, puppy chow will last up to a week in a sealed container at room temperature, and will start to get less crunchy over time. It can easily be made a day or two ahead of an event.
I love sweets, but this was too much. Perhaps it was because I used Ghirardelli white chips, which aren't chocolate. I might mix it with plain corn Chex to cut back on the sweetness.
Hi Becky, I'd suggest cutting down the confectioner's sugar if you try it again. Maybe start with 1/4 cup or less and see if that coats the cereal before adding more.