Healthy Chex Mix Muddy Buddies

Healthy Chex Mix Muddy Buddies are a lightened up version of the original muddy buddies recipe you love! Made with Chex cereal, peanut butter powder and dairy free chocolate, skinny puppy chow is easy to make and so good!

Healthy Chex Mix Muddy Buddies

During the holiday season one of our family’s favorite snacks is anything Chex-mix related.  Muddy Buddies, classic Chex mix, White chocolate chex mix, we love it all!  As I’ve shared recently, I’ve been trying to monitor my refined sugar intake to get a handle on my hormonal acne situation.

The holidays are definitely a time when I tend to eat way more sugar than usual.  So – my goal this year has been to recreate a few of our family’s favorite holiday recipes with less sugar options.

I’ve shared my Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blossoms already (which you have to try!) which are made with no refined sugar and a few more recipes are coming your way!  For now, give this Healthy Chex Mix Muddy Buddy recipe a try and feel free to add a few holiday sprinkles like I did!

Also – random question and would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!  Do you call this recipe muddy buddies or skinny puppy chow?

Skinny puppy chow, with less sugar and oh so good!

🍫 Ingredients – What You Need To Make Healthy Chex Muddy Buddies

Here is what you need:

• Chex:  To keep this recipe gluten free you will want to opt for one of the gluten free Chex cereals.  I prefer the corn chex for chex mix because I find it holds its shape better!
• Chocolate:  To keep this recipe dairy free, I recommend Enjoy Life chocolate chip mini morsels.
• Coconut oil:  The traditional Chex mix recipe calls for butter, but in the spirit of dairy free we are swapping for coconut oil.  You can choose refined coconut oil to rid of any coconut taste (although I cannot taste it with unrefined)
• Powdered Sugar or Powdered Erythritol:  When I made this recipe I cut the sugar from the original recipe and made two batches, one with powdered sugar (for the kids) and one with powdered erythritol (for me!) You can definitely visually see less sugar, but I’m OK with that since that is the whole point of this recipe!
• Vanilla extract:  Helps to enhance that yummy vanilla flavor
• Powdered Peanut Butter or Natural Peanut Butter:  This is definitely a judgement call on your part.  Peanut Butter in and of itself is healthy so I wouldn’t worry about adding it in.  But, if you are looking to make skinny puppy chow then you can swap out peanut butter for powdered peanut butter.
• Sprinkles: Totally optional (of course) but I kind of feel like necessary for the holidays!

🔪 Instructions – How To Make Healthy Muddy Buddies

Here is how you make healthy puppy chow mix:

1. Chocolate + Coconut Oil:  Add the chocolate chips and coconut oil to a large, microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 60 seconds.  Stir and microwave for another 30 seconds until fully melted.
2. Add in Peanut Butter Powder or Peanut Butter: Mix in peanut butter powder or peanut butter.  Stir until smooth.
3. Chocolate to Cereal:  Measure 9 cups of cereal and add to a large bowl. Gently fold the chocolate mixture until well coated.
4. Ready to Shake:  Divide cereal into two gallon sized bags and add powdered sugar or erythritol.  Shake bag until well coated.

💭 Helpful Tips For Making Skinny Puppy Chow

Here are a few helpful tips in making muddy buddy mix:

How to Store Muddy Buddies:  Store muddy buddies in an airtight container for up to one week at room temperature.  Do not refrigerate as I’ve found this makes the cereal stale.

Muddy Buddy Recipe Variations

Muddy buddies are quite versatile and here are just a few ideas for how you can make muddy buddies work for you and your particular tastes and dietary preferences:

Keto muddy buddies:  Use a keto-friendly cereal like Catalina Crunch

Dairy free:  Use Enjoy Life chocolate chips and coconut oil

Peanut allergy:  Use almond butter instead of peanut butter

Gluten free:  opt for Gluten free Chex like corn or rice Chex

Other names for Muddy Buddies:  This actually isn’t the most helpful tip, more of a fact that may interest you!  Muddy buddies are also known as puppy chow, monkey munch, muddy munch, reindeer chow and doggy bag.  

Other Healthy Snack Recipes You’ll Love!

Here are a few other of Momma Fit Lyndsey’s favorite healthy snacks!

• Vanilla Almond Granola
• Healthy Twix Bars
• Perfect Bar Recipe
• Peanut Butter Cup Fat Bombs

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📋 Recipe