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My obsession with muddy buddies is no secret... here, here, here,here or here. But the sweetheart edition of my favorite snack were definitely the best! I could have seriously eaten the whole entire bag by myself. These are a highly addictive and delicious snack! And how cute and fun are they for Valentines Day?? They are so incredibly easy and take 10 minutes and something that you have got to try!
Rating: 5 stars Difficulty of Recipe: 2 stars
Review: This was the first time I melted the chocolate in the microwave. It made it so easy!! I especially loved the strawberry cake mix in these to give them a great flavor. Will definitely be making them again!
Ingredients:
5 ounces white almond bark or white chocolate chocolate chips
5 ounces red candy melts (I found them at Michael's craft store)
1 teaspoon shortening
5 cups chex cereal
1 cup strawberry cake mix
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 package valentines chocolate M&M's
1. Start by dividing the chex mix into two bowls. (2 1/2 cup in each)
2. In microwave safe dish, melt the 5 ounces white almond bark or white chocolate chips. Add 1/2 teaspoon shortening so that the almond bark will spread evenly. Microwave 30 seconds at a time and be careful not to burn the almond bark. Dump this in the first bowl of chex and mix evenly to coat all of the chex cereal.
2. Melt the red candy melts next also checking and stirring the candy melts 30 seconds at a time. Once this is melted, pour this over the second bowl of divided chex and mix until coated.
3. In two gallon size ziplock bags, put 1/2 cup strawberry cake mix and 1/4 cup powdered sugar in each bag. Dump each bowl of chex mix in each bag and shake until coated with the powdered sugar and strawberry powdered cake mix.
Recipe adapted from here
My obsession with muddy buddies is no secret... here, here, here,here or here. But the sweetheart edition of my favorite snack were definitely the best! I could have seriously eaten the whole entire bag by myself. These are a highly addictive and delicious snack! And how cute and fun are they for Valentines Day?? They are so incredibly easy and take 10 minutes and something that you have got to try!
Rating: 5 stars Difficulty of Recipe: 2 stars
Review: This was the first time I melted the chocolate in the microwave. It made it so easy!! I especially loved the strawberry cake mix in these to give them a great flavor. Will definitely be making them again!
Ingredients:
5 ounces white almond bark or white chocolate chocolate chips
5 ounces red candy melts (I found them at Michael's craft store)
1 teaspoon shortening
5 cups chex cereal
1 cup strawberry cake mix
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 package valentines chocolate M&M's
1. Start by dividing the chex mix into two bowls. (2 1/2 cup in each)
2. In microwave safe dish, melt the 5 ounces white almond bark or white chocolate chips. Add 1/2 teaspoon shortening so that the almond bark will spread evenly. Microwave 30 seconds at a time and be careful not to burn the almond bark. Dump this in the first bowl of chex and mix evenly to coat all of the chex cereal.
2. Melt the red candy melts next also checking and stirring the candy melts 30 seconds at a time. Once this is melted, pour this over the second bowl of divided chex and mix until coated.
3. In two gallon size ziplock bags, put 1/2 cup strawberry cake mix and 1/4 cup powdered sugar in each bag. Dump each bowl of chex mix in each bag and shake until coated with the powdered sugar and strawberry powdered cake mix.
Recipe adapted from here
Alyssa, this is super cute! So totally perfect for Valentine's Day. I love that you add strawberry cake to the mix for that fruity kick! <3
ReplyDeleteThis looks SO stinkin good and my son who is allergic to chocolate can actually eat this!!! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is perfect for Valentine's Day! Just one question...did you add M&Ms to the recipe? I see something that looks like them in the picture, but I don't find them in the recipe. If so, how much? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie!! Thanks for noticing that! I have gone ahead and added it to the ingredients. I just used a half of a package but of course you can use more or less to your liking! :) :)
DeleteDarling! Looks too cute to eat!
ReplyDeleteLove it! Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteGORGEOUS photo!!! I love it :)
ReplyDeleteSounds yummy!
ReplyDeleteI made this but when I added the red food color to the white chocolate it got clumpy. I put it back in the microwave to remelt it and it wouldn't so I threw it out. Any idea why?
ReplyDeleteGrrr I have had that happen to me several times with almond bark. But I don't think it is from the food coloring. I feel like I over cooked it and them it turned clumpy. It is such a bummer to have the whole thing ruined. Did you add a little shortening to it? I did use white chocolate chips on this particular recipe. It turned out so perfect! Maybe try using white chocolate chips.. Sorry that is such a bummer. These are really amazing!
DeleteWater (found in most dyes, especially the liquid kind) causes chocolate to seize up and become unmanageable. It is best to use an oil based dye (specially made for candy) if you are going to dye chocolate.
DeleteIt is the food coloring. You can't add any liquid to almond bark. I didn't know until I had it happen to me once. I looked at the back of the package and it says to make sure you don't add ANY liquid to it. Even just a few drops of food coloring will botch up your whole batch :( I'd suggest using Wilson's brand of candy melts. I couldn't find red, but I did find pink. I find mine at Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby. I'm sure Michael's would have them, too. We just don't have one where I live. I used white chocolate chips with shortening and pink candy melts. Although, they aren't much of a different color, they taste a bit different.
DeleteOk that is good to know! Thanks! I must have an oil based food coloring but that is good to know on the liquid food coloring. Thanks again for your input! :) And yes I used the candy melts for this batch and they were perfect!
DeleteI wondering - could you do this with lemon cake mix? I'm having a yellow and grey party and thinking if I adjusted the colors, that could turn out cute.. or maybe lemon would be too strong of a flavor?
ReplyDeleteOh my heck that sounds amazing! Another great variation for me to try!! I would say that if you use lemon, then still mix it with some powdered sugar. For example: I would try adding 3/4 cup cake mix with 1/2 cup powdered sugar. That way the lemon is not to overpowering but very subtle! I love lemon! Will you let me know if you make this and let me know how it turned out??
DeleteI sure will! Thanks for the suggestions!! :)
DeleteThis look so good...even though I've never tried Muddy Buddies or Puppy Chow before. I'm thinking it's time I finally tried! Have a great weekend Alyssa!
ReplyDeleteHow many servings did this make? Enough for a class of 25 kids?
ReplyDeleteHi Karen! It makes 5 cups. You could divide this into a little bit less than a 1/4 a cup in a cute cupcake liner and it would be great!
DeleteHi - I tried melting ghirardelli classic white chips, adding shortening while melting in micro in 30 sec intervals. The chips ended up browning and clumping up to a near crust like consistency. (idea for later, maybe hehe). Was I not supposed to add shortening when using the chips, could I have used the wrong kind of chips, or not microwaved on a low enough setting? Please advise...trying to save my other half bag of white chips from the same fate as the last. :) Cheers.
ReplyDeleteDang! I have had that happen to me before. It is such a bummer! I added the shortening with the chips and then would stir every 30 seconds. It should have worked just fine with the classic white chips that you used. I would suggest a couple of things:
Delete1- If you are doing it in the microwave, make sure that it is a microwave safe bowl and spray some non-stick cooking spray in the bowl before putting the chips in. That way it shouldn't stick to the sides of the bowl. Start by doing 10 seconds at a time. It is better to have them melt slowly than to burn and become clumpy.
2- You can also melt them on the stovetop on a low setting stirring constantly.
I really hope that this turns out for you! It really is one of the best little treats that I have made.
Just finished making this for my 9 yr old's class. Of course as the cook, I had to try it to make sure it was delish and boy is it!! The strawberry cake mix adds so much to the flavor. I will be making this again next year for my Preschooler's class! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha of course you had to taste them to make sure they turned out ok! :) :) These really are so fun and delicious!!
DeleteI have to admit, I was a little skeptical about this one. I grew up on what we called Puppy Chow. There was seriously a zip lock bag in the pantry at all times!! It's basically the same thing but with chocolate and peanut butter. I decided to make this for my Life Group at church and OH. EM. GEE!!!! It is FANTASTIC!! The strawberry flavor is amazing!! Strawberry cake mix is one of my favorites. I should have never doubted the white chocolate and strawberry :)
ReplyDeleteI am so excided I love puppy chow and for the last ten years have not had it bexause my husband is allergic to peanuts now I can make something that taste great and can use any kind of cake mix I want thanks. I might tey two different kinds of mix
ReplyDeleteTo those having clumping issues after adding food coloring...I have tried twice and had the same outcome. I tried with both almond bark and white choc chips, both were thrown away. So, I did a search to find that you cannot add a liquid food coloring to the chocolate since oil and water do not mix (yeah, I know. I did learn this in grade school I guess I just forgot). So, you need to either have an oil or paste food coloring. Or, do as I am going to do and go to Hobby Lobby and buy red melting chips. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteMade this last night for classroom treats! Only had pink and white chocolate to melt so I didn't get the pretty contrast of colors.:( Boo. But, they tasted delicious!
ReplyDeleteif i use chocolate chips instead of almond bark do i still need the shortening?
ReplyDeleteYes I still did. It just thins it out a little more making it easier to mix with the chex cereal. :)
DeleteJust a suggestion, to put in the recipe use oil based food coloring. If I hadn't taken the time to read through the reviews I would have made the same mistake and ruined mine also.
ReplyDeleteHi - I can't seem to reply on my original post - but I melted the chocolate on the stove (in bowl over pot of simmering water) and it worked out much better.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I had the power up too high in the microwave though, otherwise it probably would have worked fine. :) Thanks for the tip and the recipe. These were a hit. :)
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ReplyDeleteThanks so much- you're awesome!!