Muddy Buddy Cookies

Muddy Buddy Cookies Recipe – good, sweet and salty muddy buddy cookies with chocolate, peanut butter, chex cereal and powdered sugar! Muddy buddies are good and simple cookies to make. These are the solid, no-bake, Chex cereal mix of crunchy, chocolatey, and peanut buttery goodness. Muddy buddy cookies using our recipe stay in solid, irresistible clusters.

This is the easiest recipe to make. We love no-bake cookies because they're a great way to introduce kids to cooking and baking without the stress of dealing with too much heat.

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Good and Easy Chocolate Muddy Buddy Cookies

People call these muddy buddies or puppy chow – we like to make them with our kids around the holidays and call them reindeer chow.

Muddy buddy cookies are simple to make – but there are a couple of steps that are best to follow in order to be sure your cookies turn out solid, every time!

How to Make Muddy Buddy Cookies

First assemble the following ingredients:

• Semi-sweet chocolate chips (1.5 cups) – Melt down to form the rich, chocolatey coating that gives muddy buddies their signature cocoa flavor without being overly sweet.
• Creamy peanut butter (¾ cup) – Adds smooth, nutty richness and helps the chocolate mixture cling perfectly to each piece of cereal.
• Unsalted butter (6 tbsp) – Enhances the overall flavor and creates a silky, pourable chocolate mixture.
• Vanilla extract (¾ tsp) – Rounds out the chocolate and peanut butter with a subtle warmth that boosts all the flavors.
• Rice chex cereal (8 cups) – Provides a light, crispy base that stays crunchy under the chocolate coating.
• Powdered sugar (2 cups) – Coats each piece in a sweet, snowy layer that prevents sticking and gives muddy buddies their classic finish.

Steps to Make Puppy Chow

Combine

Place the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter into a medium microwave-safe bowl.

Melt

Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Repeat. Keep microwaving and stirring at 15-second intervals until the mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla extract.

Add Cereal

Measure cereal. Pour your cereal into a large bowl. Pour 1/3 of the chocolate mixture over the cereal and stir. Repeat two more times until the cereal is evenly coated.

Dollop

Spoon dollops of the chocolate-cereal cookie mix onto parchment-lined trays. You can also use waxed paper to cool. We prefer to make these about two tablespoons-worth clusters (which will make them about two bites)

Freeze

Place trays in the freezer for 30 minutes or the refrigerator for 2 hours to allow the cookies to harden.

Powder

Pour powdered sugar into a bowl. Working one at a time, set the cluster in the powdered sugar and either roll or spoon additional sugar over to coat it. Tap off excess sugar and place the cookie back on the sheet. Repeat with your remaining cookies.

Kitchen notes

We don't let these sit at room temperature. We keep them in the refrigerator or freezer to keep the clusters together. We store them in an airtight container.

These get messy! That's the fun of them, but be prepared. We like to keep napkins on hand.

Because of the powdered sugar, we like to make these with semi-sweet chocolate chips. We've noticed that the nicer the chocolate, the better they stay together in cookie-like clusters.

Puppy Chow FAQs

Can we make muddy buddy cookies with white chocolate?

When we make them with white chocolate, they don't cluster together as well, but they're still good. If you do them with white chocolate, use a tablespoon less butter.

Can we make muddy buddy cookies with almond butter?

Absolutely, almond butter is a great alternative for those who are sensitive to peanuts. We love the flavor combo of chocolate and almond butter.

What kind of peanut butter do we use in muddy buddy cookies?

Our recipe calls for creamy peanut butter, but if you want to use crunchy to get that extra crunch, add an extra teaspoon

Can we try another nut butter in muddy buddy cookies?

Sure! We tried them with sun butter to tuck them into our kids' lunchboxes and they loved them!

Other Easy Cookies You'll Love

If you love these easy muddy buddy cookies, check out our other easy cookie recipes!

Some of our favorite cookie recipes include our Salted Caramel Butter Thumbprint Cookies Recipe Easy Gingerbread Truffles RecipeEasy Millionaire Shortbread Bites RecipeChocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice CookiesThe Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Blossom Cookiesand some of our recent cookie recipes below:

You can find the rest of our cookie recipes here.

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Ingredients

• 1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into slices
• ¾ tsp vanilla extract
• 8 cups rice chex cereal
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Method

1. Place the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter into a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir. Microwave another 30 seconds, stir. Keep microwaving at 15-second intervals until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract.
2. Place the cereal in a large bowl. Add? of the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Repeat 2 more times until the cereal is evenly coated.
3. In parchment-lined sheet trays, add 2 tablespoon-sized dollops of the cereal mixture, not touching onto the trays. We like to gently pack the cluster with the back of a spoon to make sure the cereal is sticking to itself.
4. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes or the fridge for 2 hours so they can harden.
5. Place the powdered sugar in a bowl. One at a time, place a cookie cluster in the powdered sugar and coat it. Tap off the excess and place the cookie back on the sheet tray. Repeat with the remaining cookies.