The Messiest Snack in the World
Puppy Chow is a wet wipe’s best friend
I’ve been making Puppy Chow in a paper grocery bag since 2001. For those doing mental math at home, that is 22 years of the gorgeous, powdery, sticky, messy delight. I learned how at a spaghetti dinner before a big swim meet at a teammate’s house. I WISH I remembered which Y2K teen taught me! But I think that’s sort of perfect as part of the lore that makes Puppy Chow what it is: an easy snack // dessert to make that a 7th grader can whip up in someone’s garage in the middle of October. The Midwest is a beacon of light when it comes to easy, crowd pleasing desserts (i.e. Jell-o salad, bars , and no bake cheesecakes) and Puppy Chow is really an encapsulation of that ease and nonchalant approach to food of Upper Midwesterners.
IMPORTANTLY: Puppy Chow is NOT food for dogs or puppies. It is Chex cereal coated in a buttery, chocolate, peanut buttery goo, tossed in powdered sugar. As it cools, there are chunks of cereal stuck together that will make you feel like you won the lottery when you eat one, and single Chex squares. Both are necessary to a well balanced Puppy Chow handful. The most difficult but essential step is getting it all coated in powdered sugar - a very messy affair. The solution? A humble paper grocery bag. Sprinkle some powdered sugar in the bag and shake it around a little then dump the choco-peanut butter cereal in the bag along with the rest of the powdered sugar. Take that bundle OUTSIDE, fold down the top a few times and SHAKE to your heart’s content (with your hand also on the bottom of the bag for reinforcement - I’ve had three too many bags bust out on the bottom and then the puppy chow devastatingly ends up on the grass). You know how little puffs of powdered sugar go up into the air and then settle onto things just to become a sticky mess? Now that is all outside where you don’t have to deal with it. It’s the only way to do it. Whether it’s a polar vortex or the middle of hot, humid summer, this is the only solution. Anything else is a disaster I promise you.
One of my favorite things about Puppy Chow is the variations that people stand by. Once it’s made, how people store it varies but the two most popular is to put it in a plastic ice cream tub (my family’s go-to) or a gallon zip top bag. Some people swear by Crispix over Chex. Others love a flavor variation like s’mores, pumpkin spice (LOL but do want to try), salted caramel, or birthday cake Puppy Chow. Some people call it Muddy Buddies instead and if you make it around Christmas, it’s sometimes called Reindeer Chow.
So now let’s give a little historical context shall we? I got most of this info from this article - go read it if you want more! Okay, first of all, Chex cereal was first made in 1937 by Ralston Purina Company in St. Louis, MO. Yes, Purina. Animal feeds were called “chow” and Chex was like human chow I guess?! Then General Mills, a Minneapolis based company, bought the Chex cereal brand in 1966 and they “created” the Muddy Buddies recipe in 2002 but it most certainly existed before then. Maybe a recipe from the back of a box or bag of something, or from a magazine originally had the Puppy Chow recipe but the answer is lost to time I think. People called it Puppy Chow based on the Purina connection long before it was called Muddy Buddies, and a lot of Midwesterners also learned to make it in home-economics class. I learned how to make it in 2001 so it’s clear General Mills was just codifying something that had existed long before in the Midwest.
I love making puppy chow in the summer for a low-heat dessert that I can put on ice cream, or grab a handful of as I scoot out to the backyard to read. I also like to bring it on road trips along with many other snacks (read more about that here), although tread lightly because the powdered sugar mess potential in the car is high, and pack some wet wipes. As a generally risk-averse person, having puppy chow in the car is one of the few thrills that doesn’t stress me out. If you have children or have a messy person in the car, maybe just save it until you get to your destination. It’s a crowd-pleaser for summer picnics, sprinkler parties, and the beach. Puppy chow is a great party favor, holiday gift, birthday present for children and adults alike, and could not be easier to make.
The Recipe
One box of Chex cereal (rice or corn) or Crispix cereal
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter (salted or unsalted)
1-2 cups powdered sugar
In a large saucepan, melt the butter on medium low. Add the peanut butter and chocolate chips. Stir continually to melt.
Add cereal and *carefully* stir to coat. Use a rubber/silicone spatula to go around the outside of the pan and then fold the cereal toward the middle of the pan. Repeat until coated. (For the evergreen folding joke, look no further.)
Prep a paper grocery store bag by sprinkling a little powdered sugar in and tossing it around.
Pour half the coated cereal into the grocery store bag and sprinkle some powdered sugar atop the cereal. Then repeat with remaining cereal and powdered sugar.
GO OUTSIDE. Fold down the top of the grocery bag a couple times and shake well. Open the bag to check if everything is getting coated. Use the spatula to distribute cereal if necessary. Shake again. Repeat as many times as necessary.
Store in an airtight container like a gallon ice cream bucket or a gallon zip top bag. It lasts about a week.
Things I Like
This hammock chair - been living in this since I got it!
My friend Kel’s realistic budgeting Substack
Crossback kitchen aprons. As a fat person, the ones with ties are never long enough and make me think too much about my body when I’m cooking when I want to be thinking about the food in front of me
Molly Baz’s collection with Crate & Barrel, specifically this big salad bowl with HANDLES and these measuring spoons with a ¾ tsp - genius
I am looking forward to my next road trip when I am make a big batch of puppy chow, and will definitely be packing some sort of wipe to deal with the sticky delicious perfection!
May your week be gentle and may you eat well. 🌲🥣