Lovely, chunky clusters of pet chow with additional chocolate and peanut butter, and a coating of powdered sugar! Midwest summer time bliss.
Hear me out: summer time is totally the most effective time of 12 months for pet chow. You make it, you freeze it, and also you take pleasure in that salty-sweet crispityness everytime you really feel such as you want a chilly hit of chocolate, peanut butter, and crunch.
Pet chow is simply a kind of easy pleasures that takes a hangout / cabin weekend / highway journey / night at residence on the sofa to a greater emotional place, know what I imply? No state of affairs can’t be made higher with a handful of this joyful little snack.
I’m a toddler of the 90s and I grew up within the Midwest, so sure, I’m skilled on this space.
In This Publish: Every thing You Want For Pet Chow
Pet chow is greatest when it’s:
- EXTRA COLD
- EXTRA CRISP
- EXTRA CHOCOLATEY
- EXTRA CLUSTERED
Let me current to you the way I believe pet chow ought to at all times look:
Lovely, chunky clusters.
The pet chow I grew up with was extra like particular person items of cereal that had been fully coated with powdered sugar. It was served room temperature and also you ate it one piece at a time.
However have you learnt what’s much more enjoyable? In the event you go for MORE chocolate and MORE peanut butter and MORE butter, you’re going to get MORE sticking-together, and that’s going to create magical little clusters. And when you make it very chilly, it’s… properly, it’s a thick and crispy little chew that’s simply tremendous scrumptious.
That jumbo cluster you’re taking a look at in that image is only a grown up’s model of the unique. This stays true to the fundamentals however simply dials up all the things good: the chocolate, the peanut butter, the butter. It offers just a bit extra pleasure with the feel, the form, the temperature. It makes for supremely satisfying grazing. It’s an actual delight.
What Is Pet Chow
For individuals who are younger or non-Midwesterners, Pet Chow, also called Muddy Buddies, is a snack (dessert? prized possession? Wiki calls it a “home made sweet” – lol) that’s made by coating crispy cereal like Rice Chex in melted chocolate peanut butter combination and tossing it with powdered sugar. It’s meant to be eaten by the handful, like a dessert-y model of Chex Combine.
It is among the nice Midwestern meals contributions of the 80s and 90s (my roots!) and due to my sturdy opinions on freezing it, I’m making my case at this time that it’s the right candy snack / enjoyable factor that you ought to be making to deliver pleasure into your life for these previous couple of weeks of summer time.
I’m calling this “Additional Good” – it solely differs from the recipes on the again of the Chex bins by having much more of that chocolate-peanut-butter coating, subsequently making it additional thick, additional clustery, additional delish.
How To Make Pet Chow
Make a Chocolate Combination
First: soften chocolate, peanut butter, and butter in a giant bowl. Microwave works high-quality. That is the Midwest. We’re not fancy.
Melted chocolate goes in with the cereal.
Combine Chocolate with Cereal
Stir it up till it’s coated.
ABSOLUTELY NO PIECE LEFT BEHIND.
Toss with Powdered Sugar
As soon as the cereal is coated, toss it with powdered sugar so each bit is coated and dry sufficient to the touch.
Midwestern youngsters of the 90s (hiya) will agree with me that mixing the chocolate coated cereal in a paper grocery bag is the genuine and correct approach. I imply, is it actually pet chow with out the paper bag?
However in actuality, any large bag (ziplock, paper bag, even a giant mixing bowl which you can toss very gently in order to not break the cereal) will get the job accomplished.
Chill Time
Lastly, switch it to some sort of floor the place it may “dry” aka set into little bites of crispy scrumptious chocolate peanut butter heaven.
I usually use a pair baking sheets lined with parchment which I then switch to the freezer as a result of FROZEN PUPPY CHOW IS LIFE CHANGING.
(For optimum clustering, so don’t unfold it out an excessive amount of! simply sort of let it lay the way it desires to put and the freezing course of will assist the clusters kind.)
How To Retailer Pet Chow
Completely retailer this addictive bounty within the freezer. I maintain it in hermetic containers (like a lidded plastic meals storage container, for instance) or simply in a Ziplock bag.
Sure, the fridge works, the counter will even work. However the freezer is WHERE IT’S AT for an additional crispity satisfying crunch. Plus, it travels properly and makes it last more.
Pet chow (particularly out of the freezer) is absolutely the excellent snack to seize for:
- cabin weekends
- highway journeys
- bonfire snacking
- pool days
- youngsters and youngsters generally (we don’t usually have youngsters in our home, however just lately we did and after we introduced the pet chow out, there have been precise cheers after which it was pounded)
- simply grabbing a cluster or 5 for just a little cool crunchy deal with after dinner
Oh, the enjoyment and delight of that extra-chocolatey chilly crunch! I hope this helps you reside just a little extra frivolously in August. HAPPY MUNCHING.
Pet Chow: Often Requested Questions
How do you retailer pet chow?
This may be saved on the counter, within the fridge, or within the freezer – simply ensure it’s saved in an hermetic container or bag. I’m a fan of protecting it within the freezer! SO GOOD.
How lengthy does this final?
At room temp in a tightly sealed bag, it ought to final for as much as per week (when you haven’t already eaten all of it). Within the freezer, this may final for a number of months.
I’m allergic to peanuts! With this work with different nut butters?
Completely! This additionally works properly with Solar Butter.
Is the paper bag crucial?
Plastic/Ziplock luggage would work as properly, however you’ll should do it in a number of small batches.
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Description
Lovely, chunky clusters of pet chow with additional chocolate and peanut butter, and a coating of powdered sugar! Midwest summer time bliss.
- 1 field rice Chex cereal (about 10 cups)
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups powdered sugar (extra as wanted / desired)
- In a big microwave-safe bowl, soften the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter at 30 second intervals till easy and melted.
- Stir within the vanilla and salt.
- Pour chocolate over cereal – this recipe makes a really giant batch so I do that in two large bowls.
- Use a wood spoon to softly combine the cereal with the chocolate, being cautious to not break the cereal.
- Place the chocolate coated cereal within the bag and add the powdered sugar excessive (sure, simply dump it proper in). Shake the bag gently to coat all of the items with powdered sugar – personally I wish to go for a moist/dry hybrid method for optimum clustering, somewhat than an each-piece-individually-coated-and-dry method.
- Switch to a few baking sheets, or simply lay it out on parchment paper to chill and set. Retailer this within the freezer for the most effective clustering and most satisfying crunch!
Notes
If the paper bag is weirding you out, that’s high-quality – simply use a pair plastic Ziplock luggage as a substitute. (They’re smaller so that you’ll have to work in a number of small batches.)
Okay, I do know that logically it makes extra sense to place the powdered sugar within the bag first; nevertheless, I discover that I get higher clustering once I put the sugar on prime of the cereal and shake to coat it that method.
- Prep Time: quarter-hour
- Prepare dinner Time: 10 minutes
- Class: Dessert
- Methodology: No-Bake
- Delicacies: American
Key phrases: pet chow, muddy buddies, chocolate dessert, peanut butter dessert, chex combine
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