Whether you call it Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddies, this delicious snack got a holiday makeover, peppermint style. Peppermint Puppy Chow is made with crunchy Chex cereal coated in Andes peppermints, powdered sugar, and candy canes!
This sweet treat didn’t take much work to test, or eat! Based off my classic puppy chow recipe, I swapped out the melted chocolate and added loads of festive peppermint flavor.
This recipe was originally published in November 2013. I updated the photos and recipe notes in December 2025.
Aimee’s Recipe Notes
Taste & Texture: Sweet and minty with a crunchy texture from the cereal and candy canes!
Ease to Make: Beginner friendly. Melt, mix, shake, and serve.
Melt Carefully: For best results use a double boiler. Or melt in the microwave, using 30 second intervals, to avoid burning.
Storage: Keep puppy chow in a ziploc gallon sized bag or airtight container.
I just made this and it is delicious…..my 7 yo granddaughter is going to love it.
-barb
Ingredient Notes
For the complete recipe, scroll down to the recipe card for measurements.
- Chex® cereal – Rice or corn varieties will work or do what I did and use a combination.
- Vanilla candy coating – Ghirardelli white chocolate melting wafers are my favorite to use. They melt wonderfully and taste amazing. For a chocolate variation, substitute milk or dark chocolate candy coating.
- Andes peppermint crunch baking chips – Substitute another peppermint baking chip, like Nestle’s peppermint chocolate morsels, if you can’t find the peppermint crunch ones.
- Crushed candy canes – Make sure they’re peppermint flavored. Mini candy canes or Starlight hard peppermint candies can be substituted.
- Powdered Sugar – Creates the snowy, sweet coating on puppy chow.
How to Make Peppermint Puppy Chow
Make the Base:
- Melt white chocolate with Andes peppermint morsels until smooth.
- Toss with cereal and crushed candy canes.
Add Powdered Sugar:
- Add powdered sugar to bowl of cereal (or for an easier -cleaner- way, add cereal to ziploc gallon sized bag, add powdered sugar, and shake).
- Serve with extra candy canes and enjoy! The candy canes don’t need to be fine crumbs. I like to have a few bigger pieces left to add in at the end for extra color. That little extra makes puppy chow LOOK at good as it tastes.
Easy Peppermint Treats
- Love Peppermint? Be sure to bake up a batch of these soft and chewy Chocolate Peppermint Cookies this holiday season! Or give my peppermint cheesecakes a try next!
- These thick and fudgy Peppermint Brownies are topped with a creamy peppermint frosting.
- Chewy White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are a sweet treat that look so festive too.
- Homemade Peppermint Mocha coffee creamer is so easy to make, and tastes better than store bought.
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Peppermint Puppy Chow Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 ounce Ghirardell White Chocolate Melting Wafers
- 1 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips
- 12 cups Chex cereal I use a combination of the rice and the corn flavors
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 6 regular sized Peppermint Candy Canes crushed
Instructions
- Place white chocolate and peppermint crunch baking chips in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 second intervals, mixing between each interval. Mine took 2 minutes total. Stir until smooth.
- Place cereal in a very large bowl. Pour melted chocolate over cereal. Add about 3/4 of the crushed candy canes. Mix until all the cereal is covered in chocolate.
- Add powdered sugar and stir until fully coated. Sprinkle with remaining peppermint candy canes.
Notes
- I love using Ghirardelli white chocolate melting wafers. They melt smooth and taste amazing. You could also use vanilla candy coating.
- Making muddy buddies is a messy business! Expect to get at least a little (or a lot) of powdered sugar on you when tossing the cereal. Wear an apron and put a sheet of parchment paper under the mixing bowl to catch any stray sugar for easy clean-up.
- The candy canes don’t need to be fine crumbs. I like to have a few bigger pieces left to add in at the end for extra color. That little extra makes puppy chow LOOK at good as it tastes.
- Make sure to keep the bag or container sealed when you’re not eating the puppy chow. There’s nothing sadder than scooping up a handful of peppermint puppy chow to find out it’s gone stale.
Video
Nutrition
Easy Christmas Treats
Classic Puppy Chow sweetness with a cool peppermint twist! Everyone will rave over your homemade Peppermint Muddy Buddies!
I hope everything goes well to you in this year.
As you know, Christmas is comming soon, you’ve already decorated for Christimas, right ? I also love Christmas.
This year I’m going to put small a tree for Christmas in my room.
We always called it puppy chow too, so I’m with you on that! As for this, perfect gift for my boss who would live in a candy cane given the choice! ThNks for sharing!
Enjoy 🙂
I love puppy chow…definitely going to have to give this recipe a try! Anything peppermint is super delicious, especially during the holidays 🙂
I just made this and it is delicious…..my 7 yo granddaughter is going to love it. I found a bag of already chopped candy canes at Walmart, and used them……much easier and less messy. Thanks for a great recipe.
Hi!
What a great idea. I hope I can find something similar for baking/making these here in The Netherlands. And I love the name: Puppy Chow. It looks like some crunchies I buy for my dog 😀 Love it.
I love puppy chow and this peppermint twist sounds delicious! I will have to keep an eye out for those Andes chips before they run out!
I love those baking chips from Andes! I stocked up on them last year, haha – this puppy chow is so perfect for the hoildays!
Thanks Julie! I like to stock up every year too!!
Aimee, great idea! I”m thinking this would be perfect for teacher/neighbor gifts in a cute little jar decorated for Christmas.
This looks delicious! I need to make some of this for my husband to take to work with him!
Yum! I love puppy chow – and this version looks totally delicious! I never make puppy chow for myself, though, for the exact reason that I’d probably end up eating the whole batch. Haha!
Pinning!
Yum! I love different flavored puppy chow 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Buying puppy chow at the store is SOOO wrong!!! This looks amazing!! Love the andes peppermint crunch chips!!
Aimee this is one of the prettiest puppy chows I’ve ever seen! I can hear sleigh bells already. 😉
CHRISTMAS PREZZIE ALERT!
I can’t wait to try this! I love those Andes mints.
Love that you made a puppy chow with those Andes peppermint crunch chips! A batch of this would disappear in no time at my house!
I stock up on those Andes mints every time I head to the store during the holidays. I can only imagine how fast that puppy chow would disappear if it was in my hands 🙂 Yummo!!!
Just bought a bag of those Andes Peppermint baking chips yesterday! Now I have a good use for them!
I didn’t know Andes made a peppermint version! I must go find them. We just bought a bag of peppermint chex mix that was one sale and its already gone:) This sounds addictive and delicious!
Yes, you need the Andes peppermint in your life. Trust me 🙂
I can only imagine how addicting this must be!
Very. Like any puppy chow, you just can’t stop until you’re completely covered in powdered sugar!