Your favorite childhood snack gets a makeover! This Healthier Puppy Chow is healthy enough to eat as a snack but sweet enough to pass as dessert!
Hi Friends!
Quick post today. I’m tired. This week is wearing me down for some reason. But I do have a fun little snack to share with you! Let’s take a little trip back to childhood. Remember puppy chow? Muddy buddies? Whatever you may have called it, it was a beloved treat for me growing up.
I decided to revisit that childhood recipe and make it a bit healthier. Here are the changes I made:
- Replaced the melted chocolate chips with Chocolate Nuttzo
- Cut WAY back on the powdered sugar
- Added some healthy nuts and seeds to the mix
The result is puppy chow-ish. It’s still tossed in powdered sugar, so I wouldn’t go so far as to call it super-healthy but it’s definitely a step up from the original!
Here’s the recipe:
PrintHealthier Puppy Chow
A nutritious spin on one of your favorite childhood treats!
Ingredients
- 3 cups Rice Chex
- 1/2 cup chocolate Nuttzo
- 1/4 cup nut butter
- 2 Tbsp chia seeds
- 2 Tbsp hemp seeds
- 1 cup nuts
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Combine the chex, seeds and nuts in a large bowl.
- Melt the Nuttzo and peanut butter in the microwave.
- Pour over chex mixture and stir to combine.
- Let sit for 15 minutes or so to cool.
- Transfer mixture to a large ziploc bag. Add powdered sugar, close the bag and shake to coat.
- Store in the fridge.
I used a mixture of Nuttzo and peanut butter. Feel free to use your favorite nut butter. Like I mention in the notes above, if you don’t have the chocolate nuttzo and still want the chocolate component, just melt some chocolate chips and add those to the mix! I used a combination of peanuts and almonds- you choose your favorite nuts to include!
Since I cut way back on the powered sugar coating, it’s best to store this in the fridge to help minimize the mess! If you want to add more powdered sugar for a thicker coating, go for it!
[Tweet “A childhood favorite revisited. Healthier Puppy Chow from @leangrnbeanblog!”]
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
Full disclosure: I received the Nuttzo used in this recipe for free, but was not asked to create this recipe.
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I like the way you made puppy chow healthier! I’ve seen other healthy versions before, but not one like this, and especially not with the Nuttzo. I’ve never tried Nuttzo, but I’d love to!
it’s definitely worth trying!
LOVE the idea of using chia and hemp seeds – totally makes for a good reason to make this HEALTHIER puppy chow hehe
i agree 100% 🙂
This is the first time I’ve seen a puppy chow recipe which had some added goodness- nice one buddy! I reckon this would make an awesome gift instead of granola!
yes! i’m thinking xmas gifts!
Love the addition of hemp seed for a nice crunch and added texture! Yum!
yes! the seeds make it extra fun!
Simply….YUM! 🙂
Brilliant! My kids are obsessed with Puppy Chow because they make it at camp in baking and cooking. I refuse to make it at how because all the sugar! I will have to try this one.
yay! hope you all love it!
I’ve never heard of Nutzo, but I’m gonna look for it, because this sounds awesome!
it’s a great product! definitely worth checking out!
I LOVE puppy chow!
oh my stars friend… I NEED!
I happen to have some chocolate nuttzo that really should be used:-)
Weird, I’ve been feeling really off this week, too. Not sure why, maybe it’s this point in pregnancy when things start to get real??
perfection! hope you feel better as well. it’s definitely starting to get real!
This was one of my favorite childhood treats! Even if it’s not totally healthy, it’s a step in the right direction and that’s better! 🙂 I’m definitely going to give this a whirl!
woohoo! enjoy!
I used to love puppy chow! Love this healthier version!
Awesome idea, Lindsay! I LOVE puppy chow and it is nice to see a healthier version, especially since it is SO addicting!
one of the most addicting foods i’d say!
Puppy chow is definitely one of my all time favorites. Its so addicting that I can never really make it that often! People down here call it muddy buddies.. which is just kinda weird to me.
haha i agree. weird to me too!
I had puppy chow for the first time only a few years ago. Holy addiction! LOL. This recipe looks great. Just pinned it. I wonder if you could even take it a step further with protein powder …
oooh! worth experimenting i’d say!
Oh my, puppy chow is one of those foods that, when I’m given the entire bag, you are not getting it back (at least not with anything in it 😉 – Great to see that there’s a less guilt-inducing way to enjoy it!
absolutely! no need to share anymore 😉
LOVE this! I love that puppy chow so having a healthier version would be nice so I don’t feel so guilty about it. Totally sneaking this to my next family even to see if anyone notices the changes.
woohoo! hope it goes over well!
Ahh I used to LOVE puppy chow and would make it for friends events all the time. I just got asked at my brother’s wedding by a buddy of his if I brought my famous puppy chow! Needless to say once I got my head on straight with health and nutrition I pretty much never thought of making it! I will DEFINITELY try this healthier version though. Maybe puppy chow is back in my life?!
yes! it’s definitely back in. So good 🙂
Pinned this immediately! I love that even though you’re beyond tired/busy/stressed, you can still whip out a totally awesome puppy chow recipe that I want to eat off the screen. YUM-O!
doing my best girlfriend 😉
Oh yum! What a simple way to make a snack a little healthier – love it!
This is crazy but I don’t know that I’ve ever had puppy chow. I’ve seen it at parties, but can never remember reaching for it. I’ll have to try it sometime.
what?! A must try for sure!
Love this! Just pinned. I’ve been looking for a healthier puppy chow recipe… I haven’t had it in so long!
Thanks so much for pinning! Hope you enjoy!
Oh man…I don’t know if muddy buddy is a recipe I wanna mess with! I definitely don’t make it with health in mind 🙂
haha no need to mess with perfection if you don’t want to!
This would be a perfect work snack! Looks delicious!
Agreed. Perfect snack break!
This looks wonderful! I never ate this as a kid but as an adult I love it!
Glad you’re making up for lost time!
Lindsay I’m in heaven..oh my delicious!
xoxo Sarah Grace, Fresh Fit N Healthy.
Down here in Texas they call it muddy buddies, but my family is from up north and have always called it puppy chow 😛 Such a good snack! I made some last year with the full-on-sugar-overload for my family as presents. I wish I had known about this recipe then!
haha the original version is sugar overload for sure!
I am so happy that there’s a healthy (er) version of puppy chow! I could eat like 482848 very large bowls of that stuff … having a healthier version probably doesn’t quite justify that, but it helps! Trying this right away … can you buy hemp seeds at a regular grocery store?
probably not. I’d check places like whole foods. Manitoba Harvest sells them online and they also have a store locator you could check out!
YUM! My weakness!!! I want some! I pinned this but am scared to make it and eat it all 😉
haha #worthit!
Yum 🙂
YUM! I love Puppy Chow! My kids will gobble this up!
hope they love it 🙂
It looks REALLY good! Despite being healthier, I still don’t think I could stop at just one handful…
haha I definitely didn’t 😉
Wow, even thought it’s ‘healthier’ I still think I’d have trouble stopping eating them 🙂
It’s definitely still addicting!
Can NOT wait to try this!
Loved this!!!!! I actually prefer this over the naughty version. Thank you!!