Cookie butter makes this ‘puppy chow’ recipe a nut-free snack

Puppy chow is an unputdownable snack by which rice cereal squares are coated in a mixture of peanut butter, chocolate and generally butter, earlier than being tossed in confectioners’ sugar. (In this Taste piece by Naomi Tomky, you’ll be able to learn extra concerning the identify, which can be extra about a prior connection to pet meals producer Ralston Purina than its kibble-like look.) The Midwestern favourite is often known as Muddy Buddies, the trademarked identify of the recipe shared by Chex. It’s a favourite with eaters of all ages, whether or not it’s youngsters hankering for an after-school snack or grown-ups noshing at a social gathering.

Trying cookie butter was extra than simply a novelty. It nudges this deal with into nut-free territory, a frequent concern in terms of kid-friendly snacks. Cookie butter can also be vegan, so I lean into the idea by utilizing vegan chocolate chips and swapping coconut oil in for the butter. My different additions to the method: a little little bit of cinnamon to boost the spice of the cookie butter and a good smaller quantity of salt for a delicate sweet-and-salty distinction that makes the pet chow much more irresistible. Lastly, I supply an choice to include cocoa powder into the snowy confectioners’ sugar coating. That, too, brings an attractive savory edge that mellows out the sweetness and amps up the chocolate taste. It’s simple to separate the recipe into two batches, including cocoa powder to certainly one of them, so you may get the very best of each worlds.

This is a recipe that takes effectively to no matter tweaks or improvements you wish to convey to the desk. Cookie butter isn’t gluten-free, so if that’s a concern, pivot again to the peanut butter or different nut or seed butter you like. The recipe will work simply as effectively with common butter or one other plant-based various as an alternative of the coconut oil. Similarly, use the chocolate chips of your selection even when they’re not vegan, although I desire one thing darkish or semisweet since milk chocolate leans candy and this is sugary sufficient as it’s.

Inspired by a recipe over on JoyFoodSunshine, I modified the usual technique simply a bit to make sure the very best outcomes. Briefly refrigerating the chocolate-coated cereal helps set the chocolate and means you’ll find yourself with more-distinct items with a thinner, extra even dusting of confectioners’ sugar. Similarly, popping the completed pet chow on baking sheets again within the fridge for a few extra minutes provides you a prettier snack that’s much less sticky in your fingers. (Really, although, with pet chow, it’s finest to smile and embrace the mess.)

You’ll get a hefty 12 cups of the snack combine ultimately, which appears like a lot till you place it down in entrance of a group of individuals, as I came upon. Still, the recipe will halve simply, in the event you’re restrained sufficient to strive it.

Store the combination in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as a week. If it’s heat in your house otherwise you desire the feel chilled, you’ll be able to refrigerate it.

Lotus Biscoff Creamy Cookie Butter is obtainable at many supermarkets, in addition to on-line. Trader Joe’s sells its personal Speculoos Cookie Butter.

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• 1 1/2 cups (9 ounces/255 grams) vegan darkish or semisweet chocolate chips, resembling Enjoy Life darkish chocolate morsels
• 1/2 cup (150 grams) cookie butter, resembling Biscoff or Trader Joe’s manufacturers
• 1/4 cup (40 grams) virgin or refined coconut oil, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon floor cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon effective salt
• 10 cups (12 ounces/340 grams) Rice Chex cereal
• 1 1/2 cups (190 grams) confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder (elective)

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, warmth the chocolate chips, cookie butter and coconut oil on HIGH for 1 minute. Stir the combination. Continue heating in 30-second increments, stirring after every burst, till clean and virtually melted. You don’t wish to overheat the chocolate, so as soon as the chocolate appears to be like largely melted, stir till it melts within the residual warmth. Whisk within the vanilla, cinnamon and salt.

Place about a third — a beneficiant 3 cups — of the cereal within the largest, widest bowl you’ve gotten. Pour in about a third of the chocolate combination. With a versatile spatula, gently fold the chocolate combination into the cereal, so that each one the items are effectively coated. A mild contact helps maintain the cereal from breaking an excessive amount of. Be certain to scrape the edges of the bowl so that you don’t lose any of the chocolate combination. Repeat including the cereal and chocolate combination in two extra additions.

While you put together the confectioners’ sugar, pop the bowl into the fridge to let the chocolate cool and set barely, about 10 minutes. Line two giant, rimmed baking sheets with parchment or wax paper.

Add half the confectioners’ sugar and half the cocoa powder, if utilizing, to a 1-gallon zip-top silicone or plastic bag. Add half the cereal combination to the bag, seal and shake in order that the cereal is evenly coated. Pour the pet chow onto one of many lined baking sheets, spreading it into a pretty even layer. Repeat with the remaining confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and cereal combination and unfold on the opposite ready sheet.

Before consuming or storing, switch the pans to the fridge for about one other 10 minutes to make sure the chocolate is ready. Or in the event you can’t wait and don’t thoughts sticky fingers, dig in.

Calories: 179; Total Fat: 8 g; Saturated Fat: 4 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 156 mg; Carbohydrates: 28 g; Dietary Fiber: 2 g; Sugar: 14 g; Protein: 2 g

This evaluation is an estimate based mostly on obtainable substances and this preparation. It mustn’t substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s recommendation.

Adapted from a Chex recipe by Voraciously workers author Becky Krystal.

Tested by Becky Krystal; e-mail inquiries to [email protected].

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