Reindeer Chow – A Yummy Festive Snack Mix

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Make a huge bowl of Reindeer Chow for the holidays for everyone to nibble on while waiting for Santa or while watching a Christmas movie! The classic homemade snack made with Chex cereal, melted chocolate, and peanut butter gets a festive makeover and is so easy to make. It also makes an awesome, last-minute edible gift! Scoop it into cello bags, tie off with some ribbon and add a gift tag for a tasty handmade present.

I’ve got more fun Reindeer Crafts and Recipes for you to enjoy – right click and open these ideas in a new tab so that you can read them after this one!

Reindeer Chow Snack Mix

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Reindeer Chow

If you’re one of my American readers you will know all about the homemade snack called Muddy Buddies or Puppy Chow, but if you’re one of my readers from elsewhere in the world you may be clueless as to what this is!

Puppy Chow/Muddy Buddies is made using Chex cereal that is mixed with melted chocolate and peanut butter and then coated with powdered (icing) sugar. It is said to resemble an American brand of dog food – hence the name Puppy Chow!

It can then be mixed with a bunch of other snack ingredients like pretzels, nuts, chocolate, sprinkles and more; and even made with a variety of different flavors and colorings for different seasons.

Anywho, using pretzels and red and green M&M’s we’re making Reindeer Chow for Christmas!

Recipe card with step by step images to make Reindeer Chow

Ingredients used in this recipe

The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, but here is a brief outline so you know what to expect from the recipe.

I highly recommend always reading a recipe all the way through before starting.

For my UK readers: When I go on vacation to the USA, I like to stock up on my favourite American food products and ingredients, so you’ll find them used in some of the recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog. However, we can buy a lot of American ingredients online these days, and in supermarkets (check the World Foods aisle!) which is awesome! (Although sometimes the price can be on the high side…)

When I use American ingredients in recipes that I share on my blog, I always aim to suggest British alternatives or include Amazon affiliate links to where you can buy them online.

Chex comes in different varieties – corn, rice, and wheat – as well as flavored varieties like cinnamon, vanilla, and honey nut.

The closest I can think of that we can use in the UK is Shreddies, which are made from wheat. You could also try mini Shredded Wheat. By the time you cover them in chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar I think the substitution will be just fine!

Yummy Reindeer Chow
How to make Reindeer chow with step by step photos

Reindeer Chow Recipe Tips

  • Chex is an American cereal made by General Mills. You can also use Crispix by Kelloggs.
  • Neither are available in the UK (where I am from!) but you can buy them online.
  • A UK alternative (and a heads up for American Ex-Pats!) are Nestle Shreddies or Shredded Wheat. Shreddies also comes in a chocolate variety that I think would work well in this recipe.
  • Melt chocolate chips and smooth (creamy) peanut butter in the microwave in increments stirring in between. You don’t want to burn the chocolate.
  • Mix the cereal with the melted chocolate peanut butter mixture and turn with a spoon until coated.
  • You need a gallon-size Ziploc bag for this recipe. In the UK buy the biggest you can find in the supermarket, Tesco XL bags seem comparable in size!
  • Shake the powdered sugar (icing sugar) and cocoa in the Ziploc to coat the insides, then add in the chocolate covered cereal and shake to coat the pieces with the sugar mix.
  • Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread out the cereal on top and leave to set/dry.
Reindeer Chow Christmas Snack

Make It A Meal!

This is more of a snack than a dessert – but there is no reason you can’t munch on Reindeer Chow for dessert! But what about the rest of the courses?

Here are additional recipes to make a full meal!

There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy! Please feel free to check them out too.

Reindeer Chow

More Recipes Using Chocolate

One of the main ingredients in this recipe is chocolate, so here are a few more chocolate-based recipes

Easy to Make Reindeer Chow

More Snack Recipes

Need some more snack ideas? Take a look at these recipes next:

Reindeer Chow Snack Mix

Reindeer Chow Snack Mix

Yield: 15
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Make a huge bowl of Reindeer Chow for the holidays for everyone to nibble on while waiting for Santa or while watching a Christmas movie!

Ingredients

  • 6 cups Rice Chex cereal
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • ½ cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1½ tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 2oz Christmas M&M's
  • 2 cups pretzel twists

Instructions

  1. Place the cereal in a large bowl. Set aside.

    Chex Cereal
  2. Place the chocolate chips and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl.

    Chocolate Chips & Peanut Butter
  3. Microwave the chocolate and peanut butter in 30-second increments stirring each time until melted and smooth.

    Melted Chocolate
  4. Pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal and use a spatula to gently toss the cereal in the chocolate until completely coated.

    Chocolate Coated Cereal
  5. Place the powder sugar and cocoa powder inside a resealable gallon-sized food-safe plastic bag. Seal and shake.
  6. Add the chocolate-coated cereal to the bag and seal and shake again until the cereal is coated in the cocoa/sugar mix.

    making muddy buddies
  7. Pour the cereal out evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  8. Leave to cool and dry completely.
  9. When the cereal has dried and cool, place in a large bowl with the M&M's and pretzels and stir to combine.

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    Bowls of Reindeer Chow

Notes

In the UK substitute Rice Chex for Shreddies.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 15 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 315Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 226mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 2gSugar: 30gProtein: 5g

This site uses an outside source (Nutritionix) to provide estimated nutrition. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.

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The Create the Holidays series on The Purple Pumpkin Blog features free printables, crafts, recipes, and more for Christmas and the Winter Holidays. Check out Create the Holidays (formerly Create Christmas) from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016201520142013, and 2012.

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