This easy Reindeer Chow is the perfect sweet and salty holiday treat! It’s loaded with chocolatey muddy buddies, salty pretzels, mini peanut butter cups, and mini M&Ms! This comes together in just 20 minutes, and it’s also great for holiday gifting!
Easy Christmas Snack Mix
With all of the baking and cooking that’s happening during the holiday season, sometimes all you need is a no-bake, no stress, super quick recipe to feed a crowd. I mean muddy buddies combined with pretzels and M&Ms? Where do I sign up?
This Christmas snack mix is a hoiday rendition of my Easter snack mix. It’s a quick and easy, 20-minute, sweet and salty treat. It’s perfect to bring to holiday parties, to gift to friends and family, or to just shovel into your mouth by the handful. This is a great kid friendly treat, and it’s super easy to customize.
What You’ll Need
- Corn Chex Mix, Rice Chex Mix, and Honey Nut Cheerios – the cereal base for the puppy chow part of the snack mix. I like to use this combination of three, but feel free to use just one of the cereals if preferred.
- Butter
- Chocolate Chips
- Peanut Butter -I recommend creamy peanut butter.
- Powdered Sugar
- Cocoa Powder
- Christmas M&Ms
- Mini Peanut Butter Cups
- Pretzels twists or rods
How to Make Reindeer Chow
This festive snack comes together in a total of 20 minutes!
- Combine the cereal: In a large bowl, mix together the Corn Chex, Rice Chex, and Honey Nut Cheerios.
- Melt the chocolate: In a separate microwave-safe bowl, combine butter, chocolate chips, and peanut butter. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stiring occasionally until the ingredients are melted there are no lumps left.
- Coat the cereal: Pour the chocolate over the cereal mix and stir to combine. In a large gallon ziplock bag, combine the confectioner sugar and cocoa. Pour the cereal mixture into the bag, seal, then shake and turn over to coat all the cereal. Pour the mixture onto a cookie sheet and allow to cool completely.
- Add the mix-ins: Add the M&Ms, peanut butter cups, and pretzels and stir to combine.
- Enjoy!
How to Customize This Mix
One of the great things about reindeer chow is it’s super customizable! Here are some ways to switch it up:
- Add salty snacks: Try it with popcorn, bugle chips, or even potato chips.
- Add nuts: Peanuts are the perfect crunchy addition
- Use your favorite candy. You can mix in whatever candy you like! You can even chop up your favorite candy bars to add to the mix.
- Flavor it with peppermint. Swap out the muddy buddies with with my peppermint puppy chow instead!
Tips For a Perfect Snack Mix
- Mix carefully. Be gentle when you stir the cereal with the chocolate coating. You don’t want to crush it.
- Add the coating right away. Coat the chocolate covered cereal in the powdered sugar before the chocolate cools so it sticks better.
- Let it cool. Be sure to let the puppy chow portion cool completely before mixing it with the other snack mix ingredients. If it’s too hot, the chocolate on the candies will melt and you’ll end up with a mess.
- If you don’t have a microwave, you can melt the chocolate on the stove using a double boiler so it doesn’t burn.
- Gift it. This Christmas snack mix makes the perfect holiday gift. Pack it up in mason jars tied with a bow or in festive tins and gift it to friends, family, or neighbors!
Storage Tips to Keep It Fresh
Once it’s cooled completely, finished reindeer chow will last in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week!
Can I Make This In Advance?
Yes! This is the perfect treat to prep ahead of time. It stays fresh in an airtight container for several days, so you can rest assured that if you need to make it ahead of time, it will still be delicious when it’s time to serve.
You can make the muddy buddies and store that in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month. When you’re ready to use, let it come to room temperature, then assemble the snack mix!
Print
Reindeer Chow
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 10-12
Description
This Reindeer Chow is the perfect sweet and salty holiday treat! It’s loaded with chocolatey muddy buddies, salty pretzels, mini peanut butter cups, and mini M&Ms!
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 3 cups Chex Corn cereal
- 3 cups Chex Rice cereal
- 2 cups Honey Nut Cheerios
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ⅓ cup chocolate chips
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 bag (10oz) Christmas M&M’s
- 2 cup (7.6oz bag) mini peanut butter cups
- 2 cup pretzel twists
Instructions
- Combine Chex cereal and cheerios in a large bowl.
- In a separate microwave-safe bowl combine butter, chocolate chips and peanut butter and microwave for 30 seconds then stir till there are no lumps. If needed, microwave for an additional 30 seconds and stir till smooth.
- Pour the chocolate over the cereal mix and gently stir to combine.
- In a large gallon ziplock bag combine the confectioner sugar and cocoa. Pour the cereal mixture into a ziplock bag close or zip to seal, then shake and turn over and over to coat all the cereal. Pour the coated cereal into a cookie sheet and allow to cool completely.
- To finish, add the M&M’s, peanut butter cups, and pretzels and stir to combine.
Notes
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for 7 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 525
- Sugar: 34.3g
- Sodium: 624mg
- Fat: 22g
- Carbohydrates: 77.2g
- Fiber: 4.9g
- Protein: 10.6g
- Cholesterol: 10.8mg
