The wonderful light flavor of cherry and cheesecake.  Kid’s love it and so do adults. Serve this cherry cheesecake puppy chow as a quick and easy Valentine’s Day Dessert at your party!   Wrap it up for a party favor or give as a teacher’s gift.  You are going to love how simple this treat is to make.   So simple, the kid’s can join in too!

Don’t let your guests leave empty handed.  Pour some into a piping bag for a quick and easy party favor.  Mix in some salty nuts and pretzels for the ultimate sweet and salty treat.

Puppy Chow vs Muddy Buddies

Puppy Chow –VS– Muddy Buddies…..which one is it?  Is there a difference? Why two different names? Honestly…..I don’t know. Both versions are made the same way. Usually cereal squares (but not always) and melted chocolate or flavored candy. I FOUND THIS: There’s sort of an ongoing debate about the name of this chocolate-covered cereal treat. Some people call it puppy chow, while others know it by different names: muddy munch, monkey munch, or muddy buddies. Muddy Buddies is actually the official name of the recipe marketed by General Mills, the maker of Chex cereal.

How to make Cherry Cheesecake Puppy Chow

This easy Valentine’s Day dessert will offer a wonderful light flavor of cherry. Serve this muddy buddy recipe as a holiday season dessert snack mix. The perfect no bake treat!

• CHERRY CHEESECAKE PUPPY CHOW INGREDIENTS LIST– full printable recipe below in recipe card
  • 1 (3.4 ounce) cheesecake pudding mix
  • 1 (3 ounce) cherry gelatin mix
  • 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 8 cups rice chex cereal
  • 1 pound container vanilla almond bark
  • optional red and pink sprinkles
• CHERRY CHEESECAKE MUDDY BUDDIES DIRECTIONS
  • Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a large zip top bag add the pudding, gelatin powder, powdered sugar, and optional sprinkles.
  • Mix pudding mixture to combine and set aside.
  • Measure the cereal squares into a large bowl.
  • Keep the candy in the tray it comes in and place in the microwave.
  • Microwave 1 minute, stir and heat an additional minute.
  • Pour melted candy over cereal and stir with a rubber spatula until cereal is completely coated.
  • Dump into the bag with the confectioners’ sugar mixture, shake until all the cereal is coated.
  • Pour the whole batch onto the large covered pan until set.
  • MAKES 8 CUPS-Store in a covered airtight container up to 2 weeks.

WHICH MELTING CANDY IS THE BEST FOR MAKING PUPPY CHOW?

First ask yourself,  what do I want to get out of my candy coating?  Is it flavor, affordability, convenience, or all of the above?  In a perfect world of candy coating you would want all of the above.  However, I’m not sure that’s an option. Below, I’ll break down the different candy options.

FLAVOR: While Ghirardelli candy wafers is not “real” chocolate it does offer the best flavor for candy making. It also costs the most. In this case, since the chocolate will be covered with a pudding mix and jello mix, I wouldn’t spend the extra money on a good quality candy coating.

AFFORDABILITY: Most candy wafers (Wilton Candy Melts and Sweet Tooth Fairy Meltables) range from $4.00-5.00. The bags are not 1 pound bags and would require a purchase of two bags. However Vanilla Bark comes in a $3.00-5.00 for a pound. Making it the most affordable melting candy. Also, the bark comes with it’s own melting tray.

CONVENIENCE: By far the most convenient of all the melting candies is the vanilla bark. To make clean up easy it comes with its own melting tray. The flavor isn’t as good as the Ghirardelli candy but like I said above. The flavor will be covered with the addition of the pudding and jello.

CAN I USE REAL CHOCOLATE INSTEAD OF CANDY COATING?

Real chocolate contains cocoa butter, while candy coating contains other natural oils such as palm kernel oil. Real chocolate requires tempering before it can be used. While real chocolate requires tempering, candy coating may be melted, molded and allowed to set, it’s that easy.

DIFFERENT COLOR OPTIONS-HOW CAN I CHANGE THE COLOR OF THIS PUPPY CHOW RECIPE?

Using the cherry jello powder will give the puppy chow a natural light pink color. This is how you add a variety of colors to your puppy chow. Try using red candy melts and pink candy melts instead of the white vanilla bark or white candy melts. In order to create two different colors, split the cereal between two bowls along. Also split the dry jello mix, dry pudding mix, sprinkles, and powdered sugar (pour into a large plastic bag). Add the melted red color the split bowl of cereal, stir to combine. Spoon coated cereal into one of the bags with the divided dry ingredients. Shake to coat, pour on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat for the pink color.

CHERRY CHEESECAKE ADDITIONS

• CHERRY CHIPS: These chips are most likely a seasonal chip. But can be ordered year round on the Walmart site and Amazon. How to use Cherry Baking Chips. Add the cherry flavored chips to the bag with the powdered sugar, jello powder, and pudding powder. The chips will drive the cherry flavor even more and offer a little creamy crunch texture.
• WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS: How to use White Chocolate Baking Chips. Add the vanilla baking chips to the bag with the powdered sugar, jello powder, and pudding powder. The chips will offer a little creamy crunch texture.

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MORE MUDDY BUDDY AND PUPPY CHOW RECIPES

Below are a few of my favorite muddy buddy and puppy chow recipe. Here are all my muddy buddy and puppy chow recipes.

• PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY PUPPY CHOW
• CHIRSTMAS SUGAR COOKIE PUPPY CHOW
• SALTED CARAMEL BUGLES PUPPY CHOW
• PISTACHIO PUDDING MUDDY BUDDIES
• REESE’S PEANUT BUTTER CUP MUDDY BUDDIES
• FUDGE BROWNIE BUGLES MUDDY BUDDIES