Simple no bake puppy chow truffles…. because whether or not you call it puppy chow, or muddy buddies, or some other odd name, it’s damn delicious in all forms. It is especially in truffle form, though, believe me.
In full transparency, when I was younger and had a group of friends over, I used to make a double batch of puppy chow without hesitation every single time. I mean, I feel like most people tend to buy chips and dip, or maybe order pizzas when they have people over. Or even make a cute charcuterie board. But me? No, I’d take to the kitchen and have a full blown puppy chow baking session the minute I knew people were coming.
In my defense though, puppy chow was undoubtedly a hit every single time I made it, so why stop?? These truffles were born out an incredibly deep rooted love for puppy chow. Hell, my mom has multiple photos of me from when I was younger making puppy chow. Embarrassing? Maybe. Devoted? Absolutely.
These puppy chow truffles are amazing for so many reasons, like the fact that they have a slight crunch on the inside and smooth chocolate on the outside. Or the face that they have a solid layer of powdered sugar on the outside. Or the fact that they are completely no-bake and just as delicious as you remember puppy chow to be!
Recipe Tips for Puppy Chow Truffles:
- Make sure to refrigerate truffle filling after mixing it together but before scooping it into balls! This will help it stay together as you coat it in the chocolate. 20 – 30 minutes in the refrigerator should be enough time!
- After dipping each truffle into chocolate, let the chocolate harden back up in the refrigerator. Powdered sugar sticks MUCH easier to cold, refrigerated chocolate.
Do I need any special kind of peanut butter?
No, but I highly recommend using a natural peanut butter – one that is just made of peanuts or peanuts and salt. This helps with easier mixing as the filling will be thick! Of course, if you don’t have natural peanut butter, you can use what you have on hand, but in that case you will definitely need to mix with your hands!
What should I mix these with? They’re kind of hard to mix….
With a spatula! … and your hands. Use a spatula to mix the filling initially, and once it starts to come together and become thick, use your hands to bring it all together! As mentioned, the mixture is THICK and a pair of clean hands are basically a necessity for mixing!
Why isn’t my chocolate as smooth as yours? And why isn’t it easy to dip into?
Alright two things here. Number one – you really should be using baking chocolate! Whether those are little baking chocolate wafers or a block of baking chocolate that you cut and melt – that’s the way to get a super smooth chocolate. With baking chocolate, simply melt it in the microwave in 30 second increments until fully melted, or follow the instructions on the package.
The second option is to melt your chocolate over a double boiler for better chocolate! Microwaving a lot of chocolate at once can often cause some of the chocolate to burn, and double boiling gives you more control. 🙂 However, for ease if you choose to microwave your chocolate, the recipe will still turn out great! This article has a great section on how to use a double boiler to melt chocolate if you choose.
How do I roll these in the powdered sugar? Why won’t it stick?
Two tips here!!
- First tip… DO NOT try to roll the truffles in powdered sugar until the chocolate has fully hardened back up! You’ll be left with a mess. It’s worth a slight wait… promise!
- Second tip… powdered sugar sticks much easier to cold chocolate. So – if you let the chocolate harden at room temperature, stick the chocolate coated truffles in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before rolling them in powdered sugar.
- And finally the third, but arguable the most important tip… double roll them in the powdered sugar!! I do this every time i make them. Think of this similar to a cake, when you ice it with a crumb coat and then the final coat of frosting. The first layer of powdered sugar acts as a layer to help the second coat of powdered sugar stick and remain on for as long as you keep them in the fridge.
Nostalgic Puppy Chow Truffles
Difficulty: Easy1
batchIngredients
- Truffle Filling
3 Cups Rice Chex cereal
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Chocolate Layer
2 Cups Baking Chocolate, dark or milk chocolate (for melting)
- Powdered Sugar Layer
1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
Directions
- Begin by adding chex cereal to a large mixing bowl. Crush the cereal until it’s is a fine consistency. If desired, feel free to use a food processor to process the cereal into a finer consistency, but not necessary if you don’t own one!
- To the crushed cereal, add peanut butter, powdered sugar & vanilla. Mix everything together – either with a spatula, or your hands, or both – until fully combined. Mixture will be and should be thick!
- Place your puppy chow truffle filling into the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
- While the filling chills, melt chocolate either over a double boiler or in the microwave in 30 second increments, until fully melted. Let the chocolate cool slightly until it is not so hot, but still melted.
- Once the truffle filling has chilled, scoop it into balls and roll in your hands to smooth it out.
- Then, dip each puppy chow truffle into the melted chocolate, fully submerging it until it is completely coated. Once all truffles have been coated in chocolate, set each aside to let the chocolate cool and harden. This will take a couple of hours, depending if you let them cool at room temperature or in the fridge (see recipe notes above).
- Once the chocolate has fully cooled and hardened back up, coat each in powdered sugar, and enjoy! Please please do not try to roll the truffles in powdered sugar until the chocolate has hardened back up.
Ahhh i just saw a girl make these on tiktok last night, and so of course this morning i jumped on google to find a receipe.
I.
CAN.
NOT.
WAIT…. to make these.
My sister and I were obsessed with puppy chow when we were younger. We too always made it when friends would come over. i always loved to be the shaker of the paperbag to get everything coated in the powdered sugar.
I’ll be making these this weekend.
Thank you for providing me with a grown up version of a childhood treat.
Kelly 🙂
Can’t wait to hear how you like them, Kelly! This was a childhood staple in our house as well. 🙂
You will NOT be disappointed by these! I mean, what is not to love?! Peanut butter and chocolate with a little bit of a crunchy texture. These are a new staple in our household!!!
So happy you enjoyed them!!
I’m making these now! Yum!
Can you please clarify for me…is it 3 cups of cereal and then crush or is it 3 cups of crushed cereal?
Thank you!
3 cups of cereal and then crush it. 🙂
I made the puppy chow truffles and they were delicious. I used regular peanut butter. I will be picking up some natural peanut butter which will make it easier to roll into the balls. Still delish!
I melted the peanut butter in the microwave for a few seconds, worked great
is the type of Chex the rice Chex kind? 🙂 I can see it’s not wheat Chex but am not sure if it’s corn or rice Chex
I used rice chex but either would work 🙂
How many balls does 1 recipe make?! Excited to make these for my coworkers!!
Around 10-12!
Oh my! I made them small then, and got about 25 golf ball sized truffles
What baking chocolate did you use for this recipe? 🙂
I used guittard dark chocolate baking chips!
Is the baking chocolate supposed to be unsweetened? Is it ok if it is?
It’s ok if it’s not! They just won’t be as sweet, but as long as it’s baking chocolate it’ll still work 🙂
These are SO GOOD! I made them for a family gathering. They were a huge hit and simple enough to make. Will definitely be saving this recipe, thanks!
So glad you enjoyed them!!
Taste GREAT!!
How do you store these? Do they need to be refrigerated?
yes, store them in the refrigerator!
This was an amazing recipie everyone loved it! It really is like when the puppy chow sticks together. Thanks so much! I doubled it and it made 20-30 truffles
So glad you enjoyed them, Clare!
I’m making these this weekend for my kids. Two of them are Gluten Free, Dairy Free and SOY free. I’ll substitute the Enjoy Life Chips (hopefully they melt well). I think they will LOVE! Thanks!
Hope you all enjoyed them!
I made these by the original recipe and they were awesome!!
Kelly, did the Enjoy Life chips work and taste good for this? I’m about to try them tonight for a dairy free friend! Thanks in advance!
My husband doesn’t care for the regular muddy buddy mix but he loves these truffles. Thank you!
Amazing! So glad it’s a hit. 🙂
AMAZING they taste just like it!! I froze instead of refrigerating them and it was way faster, I recommend
I love these so much! I actually made the first batch and just ate them before covering with chocolate and powder sugar.
Instead of chocolate, would it work the same if I melted peanut butter chips and use that to create the “chocolate” layer? My family’s recipe never used chocolate.
You could absolutely try that! Sounds delicious.
Do you think they could be frozen instead of refrigerated before coating in chocolate?
definitely!
I made these for a Christmas treat and they are so amazing. I gave some out as gifts and regret it because now I can’t eat them Haha.