Muddy Buddies

I grew up loving Muddy Buddies. Sweet, delicious, slightly crunchy snacks that are irresistible. A combination of Chex cereals, melted chocolate, and peanut butter, then coated with powdered sugar, who wouldn’t love it! When I want a salty snack I’ll make popcorn or Chex Mix, but Muddy Buddies are the answer for your sweet tooth!

  • Total 10 minutes
  • Serves 18 half-cup portions
  • Snacks
  • American
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bowl of muddy buddies

I grew up loving Muddy Buddies. Sweet, delicious, slightly crunchy snacks that are irresistible. A combination of Chex cereals, melted chocolate, and peanut butter, then coated with powdered sugar, who wouldn’t love it!

When I want a salty snack I’ll make popcorn or Chex Mix, but Muddy Buddies are the answer for your sweet tooth!

TWO BOWLS OF BUDDY BUDDY SNACKSmore

Muddy Buddy Recipe

Sure, you can actually buy bags of pre-made Muddy Buddies now. My local grocery store makes them too and sells plastic containers of this popular sweet snack in their bakery department. But honestly, making Muddy Buddies at home, especially with your kids, is just plain fun!

My daughter is 25 now, but she has fond memories of making this tasty treat when she was little. She told me in elementary school that the kids called this Puppy Chow too.

Whatever you call it, it’s really easy to make and a great way to get the kids into the kitchen. Pack it into snack sized bags or containers so you have a sweet treat fix for the road!

This is the original Chex Muddy Buddies recipe, the only difference is that I only use two types of Chex cereal.

bowl of knocked over muddy buddies

Ingredients needed:

The printable version of this recipe at the end of this post will give you all the measurements needed to make Muddy Buddies snack mix.

  • I use Chocolate Chex and Rice Chex. Rice Chex have the lightest crunch of all their cereals and is my favorite, but Corn Chex is a great choice too.
  • Semisweet chocolate chips are the most common choice, but you could use dark chocolate if that’s your preference. I personally wouldn’t use white chocolate because I think it would be way too sweet.
  • Creamy peanut butter is usually used, but for those with an allergy sun butters should work as well!
  • I use unsalted butter for pretty much everything, but salted butter or margarine is totally fine for this recipe.
  • I prefer pure vanilla extract as imitation vanilla has a completely different flavor.
  • Powdered sugar gives you that super fun and sweet coating that we can’t resist!

Helpful kitchen tools:

  • Large mixing bowl
  • Wooden spoon
  • Bag holders
  • Snack bags

spoonful of muddy buddy snack mix

How to Make Muddy Buddies

Making this sweet treat is so very easy! Let the kids help with as much as possible. They will love being a part of the process!

  1. Combine the two cereals into a large bowl; set aside.

bowl of chex cereals

  1. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth.

peanut butter, butter, and chocolate chips in a bowl

  1. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated.

pouring chocolate into chex cereal

  1. Pour into 2 separate gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag. We love these bag holders for this task!

muddy buddies in bag holder

  1. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated.
  2. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

tray of muddy buddies

I love that this recipe is one of those that will carry on from generation to generation. I loved hanging out with my kids in the kitchen when they were young. That has instilled a love of cooking in them that carried into adulthood. I’m sure they’ll pass that on to their kids as well!

overhead view of bowl with muddy buddy snacks

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