Healthy Puppy Chow (Sweet Snack Mix)

This healthy puppy chow (or Muddy Buddies, if you prefer) is a delicious twist on the original Chex® recipe, only this version is made without the cereal and white powdered sugar. It’s so delicious!

What’s in puppy chow? If you’re not familiar with the original recipe, it’s traditionally made with Chex cereal, peanut butter, melted chocolate chips, and powdered sugar.

It’s very simple, and it’s also very difficult to stop eating it.

Why do they call it puppy chow? As I understand it, this sweet snack mix got its confusing name because it’s appearance can resemble dog food. (But please, don’t let your dogs eat it– there’s chocolate inside.)

When I lived in Georgia as a kid, we called it “Muddy Buddies” which is the name of the recipe on the Chex® cereal box. When I moved to the Midwest, everyone was calling the exact same recipe “Puppy Chow” instead.

So, I suppose what you call it depends on where you live!

Ingredients You’ll Need

What’s in healthy puppy chow?

• Sliced almonds
• Peanut butter
• Chocolate Chips
• Coconut sugar
• Arrowroot starch

These 5 ingredients will give you a similar snack, but with a potentially lower glycemic impact on your blood sugar. Sliced almonds replace the cereal in this recipe, so they will help keep you feeling full and satisfied, with protein and healthy fats.

How to Make Puppy Chow

1. Melt the chocolate. Start by melting the chocolate chips. You can use a microwave to do this in 30-second intervals, but I prefer to make a double boiler by filling a small saucepan with 1-inch of water.

Bring the water to a boil, then place a heat-safe bowl over the top of the pot, covering the opening. (The bowl should be large enough that it will sit on top of the pan.) Add the chocolate chips to the bowl, and let them gently melt, stirring occasionally.

2. Coat the almonds. When the chocolate is melted, stir in the peanut butter.

Place the almonds in a large bowl, and pour the melted chocolate mixture over the top. Stir well.

3. Toss in powdered sugar. Instead of using white sugar, you can make your own “powdered” coconut sugar in the blender!

Simply add the coconut sugar to a dry blender, and process it for about 60 seconds, until it’s finely ground.

Place the coconut sugar in a large container with a lid, so that you’ll have room to shake the almonds around. Pour the chocolate-coated almonds into the container with the coconut sugar and secure the lid.

Shake well, to coat the almonds in the powdered coconut sugar.

When the almonds are evenly coated, add in 2 tablespoons of the arrowroot starch. Cover the container and shake again, until the almonds are coated.

This gives them the look of powdered sugar, and keeps them from sticking together, just like the original recipe.

I usually end up shaking in 1 to 2 more tablespoons of arrowroot starch, until the snack mix looks like it has a white coating.

Once the almonds are coated, they are ready to serve!

Storage Tips

This mix will keep well for up to 5 days at room temperature, so it’s the perfect snack to have out for a holiday party, or anytime you want a little something sweet. I store it in an airtight container, and I imagine it could keep well for up to 1 month in the fridge, if you’d like it to last longer.

(It never lasts that long in our house before we eat it all!) If you’d like to make a big batch to store for later, you could also freeze this in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use another nut? One comment below mentions using sunflower seeds instead of the sliced almonds. The resulting snack mix is MUCH smaller, but that could work! You could also try this with whole pecans or walnuts, if you’d like bigger pieces.

Do I have to use peanut butter? Peanut butter is used in the original recipe, but you could use almond butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter, if you prefer.

Do I have to blend the coconut sugar? Blending the coconut sugar gets rid of its “gritty” texture, so the snack mix will have a better mouthfeel. If you don’t mind biting into sugar granules, feel free to experiment with skipping that step.

Is there a substitute for arrowroot starch? You can try tapioca starch or corn starch instead. I’d start with just 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, because you don’t want to use any more than is necessary to keep the snack mix from sticking together.

If you try this healthy puppy chow recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below to let me know how you like it!

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Reader Feedback: Did you enjoy Puppy Chow (or Muddy Buddies) as a kid? Any other recipe requests you’d like to see here next?