Healthy Puppy Chow

We take the classic chocolate and nut butter treat to the next level with this healthy puppy chow! Made with only 5 simple ingredients like whole wheat biscuit-style cereal, natural nut butter, and coconut sugar, a bowl of this is sure to be the ultimate crowd pleaser. It’s deliciously addicting, easy to make, and no-bake – what’s not to love?!

What is Healthy Puppy Chow?

Puppy chow or muddy buddies, whatever you call it, is a beloved sugar-coated chocolatey treat. Because it’s typically made with powdered sugar and white chex mix, this treat is known for its sugar content. However, with a couple of tweaks and high quality ingredients, we’ve made a healthier version that just may be even better than the traditional!

Recipe Ingredients for Healthy Puppy Chow

By far one of the best things about this healthy version of puppy chow is how simple it is to make. In short, all you need are the ingredients listed below, a large mixing bowl, and baking sheet.

Whole Wheat Biscuit Cereal

I love using Kashi Whole Wheat Biscuit Cereal. Specifically, their Autumn Wheat flavor which adds the perfect crunchy taste and is slightly sweet. However, my favorite part about it is that there are only 3 ingredients! Much different than the standard chex mix cereal. However, you can use whatever cereal you like best. Some other healthier options are Barbara’s shredded wheat cereal, Whole Foods wheat squares, or Post shredded wheat cereal.

Dark Chocolate

You can technically use any kind of chocolate but I’m a sucker dark chocolate. Most importantly, it adds a more intense, rich flavor with less. To make this puppy chow completely vegan and dairy-free, try these Enjoy Life chocolate chips. They are incredible trust me.

Natural Nut Butter

Any kind of nut butter will work with this recipe – cashew butter, almond butter, peanut butter. However, the key is to make sure it’s the ‘creamy’ style nut butter and not crunchy. Georgia Grinders is my all time favorite natural nut butter and I highly recommend it if you can get your hands on it! (ps: if you use code ‘thefitpeach’ you get 20% your order!)

Arrowroot Starch

Sounds like an odd ingredient for puppy chow I know. This ingredient is strictly for aesthetics. We add a touch of arrowroot starch to the coconut sugar to give the puppy chow the classic ‘powdered sugar’ look.

Powdered Coconut Sugar

What exactly is powdered coconut sugar? Great question! Let’s chat about it below 🙂

What is Powdered Coconut Sugar?

Powdered coconut sugar is exactly what is sounds like – coconut sugar in a powdered form. It makes a great alternative to powdered sugar! To make it, simply place coconut sugar in a food processor or high-powered blender and blend until it reaches a powdery consistency (like the below picture). To give it a ‘powdered sugar’ look, add in a tablespoon or two of arrowroot starch and pulse a few times.

Tips When Making Healthy Puppy Chow

• High quality ingredients. This is perhaps the most important part in order to make this beloved treat “healthier”. Use a whole wheat biscuit cereal along with good-quality chocolate and a nut butter without all the additives. You won’t regret it!
• Melt the chocolate and nut butter together until thin. This is the first step in making healthy puppy chow. Depending on the type of chocolate and nut butter you use, you may want to thin out the mixture a touch with coconut oil. If needed, start with a teaspoon of coconut oil and continue to add more until the mixture is thin enough to coat the biscuit cereal
• Use parchment paper on a baking sheet. After we coat the cereal with the chocolate mixture and powdered coconut sugar, spread the cereal out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. We do this to prevent the cereal from all sticking together. The parchment paper will help the cereal from sticking to the bottom of the pan and makes clean up a breeze!
• Reserve a little powdered coconut sugar to sprinkle on top. This is the key to making the cereal look like traditional puppy chow. After the cereal has cooled in the fridge, sprinkle a little more powdered coconut sugar on top before serving

Looking for More No-Bake Treats? Check out these Recipes!

• Funfetti Rice Krispy Treats
• Frozen Hot Chocolate
• Chocolate Coated Oat Bars

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