20-Minute Almond Butter Puppy Chow

This recipe for puppy chow, or depending on where you live, “muddy buddies,” is a grown-up take on a childhood favorite. Made with delicious, quality ingredients like dark chocolate, almond butter, coconut oil, and almonds—this treat will satisfy your adult taste buds while sparking a bit of nostalgia. 

Upgraded Puppy Chow

The ingredients of this puppy chow are similar, with a few minor upgrades to create a puppy chow with more elevated flavors.

• Use dark chocolate instead of milk or bittersweet for a deeper more elegant flavor.
• Use almond butter instead of peanut butter to keep this peanut free. (Though if you prefer peanut butter, that still works well here.)
• Naturally sweeten if you’d like. Use coconut powdered sugar (ground coconut sugar + arrowroot starch or cornstarch) in place of powdered sugar.
• Used a mixture of rice Chex cereal, wheat Chex cereal and toasted sliced almonds. The mixture here makes all the difference. Rice cereal adds light crispiness, wheat cereal adds whole grains and crunch, and almonds add a nutty crunch.

Ingredients Needed

• Dark Chocolate Chips: I recommend using chips instead of bar chocolate because chips have added soy lecithin which sets the chocolate at room temperature. If you use bar chocolate, the mix will be a melty mess.
• Natural almond butter: you can also use natural peanut butter. I prefer creamy but if you like crunchy, use that!
• Coconut oil: you can also use butter but I like the flavor coconut oil adds!
• Vanilla extract: optional, but it does add a nice balance of flavor to the mix.
• Cereal: you’ll need rice Chex and wheat Chex. If you need this to be gluten-free, use corn Chex instead of the wheat cereal.
• Almonds: sliced almonds replace some of the cereal—decreasing the overall carbs and adding a nice nutty crunch. Be sure to toast and cool the nuts before adding them to the mix.
• Salt: a hefty pinch to balance out the sweetness.
• Powdered sugar or coconut sugar and starch: for ease, I like to use powdered sugar. But for a naturally sweetened option you can use a combination of ground coconut sugar and arrowroot starch or cornstarch.

How to Make Puppy Chow Without Peanut Butter

1. Melt dark chocolate, almond butter, coconut oil and vanilla together in a double boiler (glass bowl set over a pot of simmering water) until smooth.
2. Combine rice cereal, wheat cereal and almonds in a large bowl.
3. Add melted chocolate mixture to cereal mixture and toss to coat evenly. Let chill slightly.
4. For a naturally sweetened option: make a natural powdered sugar by grinding coconut sugar into a fine powder using a spice grinder, high-powered blender or food processor. Then combine the powdered coconut sugar with arrowroot starch or cornstarch and you have natural powdered sugar!
5. Toss chocolate-coated cereal with powdered sugar or coconut sugar mixture until evenly coated and enjoy!

How to Store

Store puppy chow in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. For up to 2 weeks, place it in the refrigerator.

You can also freeze puppy chow for up to 3 months. Transfer it to a resealable zipper-lock bag and store it in the freezer. Allow the mix to thaw at room temperature for an hour or so before adding more powdered sugar as needed and enjoying.

More Chocolate Treats to Try Next

• Chocolate Salami
• Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Dark Chocolate Truffles
• Vegan Dark Chocolate Truffles