Christmas Puppy Chow (Muddy Buddies)

[Amethyst]

Christmas Puppy Chow (Muddy Buddies)

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 1 min
Cooling Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

9 cups Rice Chex Cereal
¼ cup salted butter
½ cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup milk chocolate Christmas M&M’s
1 cup peanut Christmas M&M’s
½ cup Christmas Malted Milk Balls
18 royal icing Christmas decorations

Directions:

Pour the Chex Mix into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Combine the butter, peanut butter, and chocolate chips in a microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl. Heat on high power for 30-second bursts of power, stirring after each until melted. This should take 1 to 1 ½ minutes.

Stir in the vanilla extract.

Pour the chocolate peanut butter mixture over the cereal and toss to coat.

Sprinkle about ½ of the powdered sugar into a jumbo zip-top bag and add about half of the cereal. Shake the bag to coat the cereal.

Add the remaining powdered sugar and cereal and shake until the cereal is well coated with powdered sugar.

Pour the cereal out onto a parchment paper or wax paper-lined baking sheet.

Let the chocolate-coated cereal sit for about 30 minutes in order for the chocolate to cool.

Sprinkle on the M&M’s and malted milk balls.

Spoon the snack mix into a serving bowl, onto a platter, or package in a box, bag, tin, or jar. Add the royal icing decorations.

Serve and enjoy or give as a gift.

Notes:

Store the snack mix in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks. If you store it in a metal cookie tin, it may stay fresh for up to a month.

Variations:

You can use Christmas Sixlets instead of M&M’s, and add nuts or pretzels to the snack mix if you like.

Swap out any other nut butter for the peanut butter or use Nutella, Biscoff Cookie Butter, or any other spread to change up the flavor.

Recipe courtesy of Hungry Happenings.com