Puppy Chow

I had such a good weekend! Michael and I had a lot of fun meeting with our high school's trip to NY. We saw "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying", starring Nick Jonas (we did not love it.) and "Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark" (so cool! Not spectacular as far as plot and music, but visually astounding!). We also spent a lot of the time just visiting. It was super nice :) And it made me super nostalgic (I went on that trip 3 years in a row, in High School).

This nostalgia brought me back to Puppy Chow. This delightful treat is known by many names (such as muddy buddies), but it's pretty much amazing. It was one of the first things I ever started to make on my own (way back in high school).

I tweaked it to my own personal preferences. I like a lot of chocolate and peanut butter (so I added slightly more of those), and I don't like when there's a lot of powdered sugar (so I use a little less than called for). Those changes are reflected in the recipe below. It's the best. And it's no bake! Ok...so you tech. use the stove. But....who cares!? You should make this. You'll feel like a teenager again ;).

Puppy Chow

Adapted from my cousin Shannon/the back of the Chex box

Ingredients:

• 9 cups Chex cereal (any variety)
• Heaping 1 cup chocolate chips (I've used, and loved, milk and semi-sweet. Use what you like/have)
• Little over 1/2 cup peanut butter (I've never tried this with natural peanut butter...it worries me.)
• 1/4 cup butter (I'm curious how coconut oil might do as a substitution?)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Preparation:

• In a large bowl measure out Chex.
• In a saucepan, heat chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter, over low heat. Stir frequently, until melted and smooth.
• Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
• Pour chocolate mixture over cereal and mix until evenly coated.
• Pour into a 2 gallon resealable food storage bag. Add powdered sugar, seal bag, and shake until evenly coated.
• Spread out on wax paper to cool.

(2017 UPDATE: I added some much prettier pictures above, but here are the originals that I posted)