St. Patrick's Day Muddy Buddies are the perfect treat to add to your festivities this March. Both kids and adults will love this delicious, crunchy, and easy-to-make recipe. Each bite is filled with peanut butter and white chocolate flavor that will keep you reaching for more.
Muddy Buddies, also called puppy chow or monkey munch, is a crunchy and indulgent treat. You can make them in a flash, and chances are, you'll gobble them up just as quickly. This isn't the healthiest snack, given the butter and candy, but it's a crowd-pleasing treat that's great for celebrating St. Patrick's Day.
If you haven't tried white chocolate and peanut butter together, you're in for a huge treat! They complement each other so well. I used white chocolate chips rather than milk chocolate because you can add food coloring to turn it into just about any color you choose. These green muddy buddies make for the perfect snack for kids and adults alike. You can use this St. Patrick's day muddy buddies recipe for all your muddy buddy needs and turn it any color you need to coordinate with your parties all year long.
For more St. Patrick's Day recipes, check out my St. Patrick's Day Whole Grain Pancakes, St. Patrick's Day Rainbow Fruit Platter, Shamrock Chips, and Jalapeno Cheddar Dip!
Why you'll love them
Easy - This is a no-bake recipe that can encourage your kids to join you in the kitchen. There's nothing like creating family memories around a fun recipe. And, of course, there's the joy that comes from sneaking a taste while working on the batch!
Festive - Nothing shouts St. Patrick's Day more than a green treat. This muddy buddy recipe is super green without letting the taste of the dye come through. Add in your favorite green candies and place in a fun shamrock-shaped bowl as a delicious themed snack.
Unlimited mix-in ideas - There's so much you can do with this recipe. It's a bit different from traditional muddy buddies, and you can keep the fun going by adding lucky charms, mini, rainbow marshmallows, or a ¼ teaspoon of flavor extract such as mint.
Ingredients
You will notice I will buy off-brand foods whenever I can. While I am picky about some things, I am also a mom of 2 teenage boys trying to keep my budget reasonable. For all of these ingredients, both brand name and store brand will work and taste great.
Chex Cereal - I used rice Chex cereal to keep this recipe gluten-free, but feel free to use your preferred type. The rice Chex also has a more mild flavor than the corn Chex and wheat Chex, which makes them ideal for this recipe.
Peanut Butter - Creamy peanut butter will work best for this recipe. The brand is up to you, I've used Great Value with success, and it's so budget-friendly. If you don't eat peanut butter, you can use almond butter, cashew butter, or any nut butter you like. If you need a nut-free option, SunButter works great too!
White Chocolate Chips- White chocolate and peanut butter are delicious together. While traditional muddy buddies use milk chocolate, I used white chocolate chips in these so that they can be dyed green. If you need a swap, green candy melts will also do the trick, but they won't taste chocolatey.
Butter - Choose unsalted butter for this recipe to ensure your mixture doesn't get too salty. This helps make the liquid pourable and more evenly coats the Chex cereal.
Powdered Sugar - Powdered sugar, also known as "confectioners sugar," is used to coat the Chex cereal after adding the peanut butter and chocolate. It seals in the chocolate mixture and gives each bite some extra sweetness.
Green Food Coloring- This is used to color the white chocolate mixture green. You can use powdered or gel because those will help you achieve a vibrant green without having to add an excessive amount. I like the Wilton colors; they have always worked well for me, are reasonably priced, and are easy to find.
Green Candies- You can choose any green candies that you'd like for this recipe. Any green-coated chocolate candies will be perfect. I used a mint m&m's mixture for this recipe.
Green Sprinkles - These are optional, but for a festive treat like this St. Patrick's Day puppy chow recipe, the greener the better!
How to make Muddy Buddies for St. Patrick's Day
Making muddy buddies is really simple. This is one of those recipes that really takes no time, but you'll be glad you have a big batch because of how tasty it is.
You'll want to start by lining a baking sheet with parchment paper. There's no baking in this recipe, but you'll use it to spread out the muddy buddies after coating them. It's a super important step to ensure they don't get soggy.
Mix the wet ingredients
Mix the peanut butter, butter, and white chocolate chips in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave it for 30 seconds, then stir. Microwave the chocolate peanut butter mixture in additional increments of 10-15 seconds, stirring between each until it's smooth.
Add in the food coloring, mixing until well combined and vibrant. Powder and oil-based will work best for mixing with chocolate, others may cause the chocolate to seize and become hard. You will want this to be a super bright green, as it will need to show through the powdered sugar.
Mix with your Chex cereal
Place the Chex cereal into a large bowl and pour the chocolate mixture over the Chex. The mixture should lightly coat the cereal. Use a rubber spatula or your hands to gently fold and coat the Chex, avoiding crushing the pieces of cereal.
Scrape the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and allow it to set for 5-10 minutes.
Add the powdered sugar
Place the powdered sugar into the bottom of a large gallon ziplock bag. Then add the chex. Zip the bag and shake until evenly coated. Make sure and zip that bag, though; shaking it without it zipped will ruin your day pretty quickly!
Pour back onto a sheet pan. Allow it to sit for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
Add the mix-ins
Add your green candies. I could only find mint M&Ms, but regular green M&Ms would have been so much better! I used green sprinkles, but they were so light you couldn't even see them so be sure to look for larger-sized sprinkles. Take a stroll down the candy aisle and see what catches your eye!
Even looking at these photos again is making me drool. It is such a yummy snack!
Can't you imagine just digging into this bowl?? It's exactly what we did. The boys were so excited when they came home to this!!
Tips
Let it set- After you spread it on the sheet pan, give it at least 30 minutes to set and the chocolate to firm up before you put it into storage. Otherwise, it can get soggy and pieces may stick together.
Shop around- Sometimes, the grocery store doesn't always have the candy, sprinkles, or food coloring you need. Stores like Party City can be valuable when looking for candy in single solid colors. Additionally, craft stores such as Michaels often have a variety of unique sprinkles and professional food coloring options.
Get creative- You can add so many things to this recipe. If you don't like m&m's try adding green jelly beans or sour candies. You can also dip mini pretzels in green candy melts for even more color. Or sprinkle powdered sugar with edible gold glitter dust to make your muddy buddies shimmer.
St. Patrick's Day Muddy Buddies
Ingredients
- 12 cups chex of choice I used rice chex so it would be gluten free. You can use whatever type you prefer.
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1-2 teaspoons green food gel I used the leaf green, by Wilton
- 11/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup green candies I used mint M&Ms, as that was the only green candies I could find when I was looking. I wouldn't recommend the mint flavor though, it was good, but not the best with the peanut butter??
- ¼ cup green sprinkles optional.
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add peanut butter, butter, and white chocolate chips to a small microwaveable bowl. Place in microwave for about 30 seconds on high. Remove and stir for at least 30 seconds. If the chips haven't melted all the way, place them back in another 10-15 seconds. You want it to be melted, but not really hot, so be mindful of that.
- Once it is all melted, add in food coloring. I prefer the gel, or even a powder as opposed to the liquid color, as I don't like how much the liquid coloring waters it down. Set aside.
- In a large bowl add your chex. Pour the white chocolate/peanut butter over Chex and mix well. In this recipe, I added a much higher ratio or chex to the mixture, as I was trying to make it a little healthier. Just remember, you only need enough of the mixture to LIGHTLY coat the Chex, not too much. Pour and spread this mixture out onto the sheet pan. Allow it to set for about 5-10 minutes.
- In a large, gallon-sized ziplock bag, place powdered sugar at the bottom. Add all the chex mix to the bag. Zip closed and shake carefully to cover all the coated Chex in powdered sugar. Make sure that bag is closed, this can really ruin your day if it's opened when you start shaking!!
- Spread on the sheet pan again. I sprinkled it with my green sprinkles, it is hard to tell in the photos though. You can also sprinkle on your green candies at this point.
- Allow to sit for a bit, then store or serve as desired. Ours held really well for the 3 days it took us to eat them, just make sure they are in air-tight containers.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!