Green bowl sitting on stovetop containing Reindeer Chow with red and green M&M's and pretzels. Text on the image says "Easy No-Bake Reindeer Chow Muddy Buddies"

Reindeer Chow Muddy Buddies Recipe

I don’t know about you, but this time of year brings out my inner child. I love curling up in front of the fire with a coffee, my fuzzy blanket & socks, and a classic Christmas movie. And if you’re watching a Christmas movie you’ll need a snack to go along with it. Time to channel your inner Buddy the Elf, we’re making a sweet and salty snack even the reindeers love.

If you’re looking for an EASY no bake recipe, look no further! Reindeer Chow Muddy Buddies are the perfect dessert or snack for a holiday party, gifting to friends or family, or even just fulfilling your peanut butter / chocolate cravings. What I love about this recipe is that it’s so quick and easy that you can whip it up at the last minute if needed. It’s also super customizable. You can choose which ingredients to mix in with the main base. I chose to add M&M’s, pretzels, and red & green sprinkles to give it more of a festive feel. You could add in peanuts or your favorite cut up candy bar too. The possibilities are endless (again channel your inner Buddy the Elf) go wild! Philip prefers his without the extras added in (Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddies) so of course I ended up making us each our own bowl ha!

Green bowl filled with reindeer chow

I absolutely love gifting people with treats during the holiday season and this would be the perfect thing to make a giant batch of and hand out to friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors. You could get some cute Christmas, holiday, or winter themed bags or tins to pass them out in. You may want to give a warning on how addictive this stuff is though! Trust me, one handful of this stuff can easily turn into four or five. Maybe we should rename it to Reindeer Crack!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • Chocolate Chips
  • Creamy Peanut Butter
  • Unsalted Butter
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Salt
  • Chex Cereal
  • Pretzel Twists
  • Powdered Sugar
  • Holiday Sprinkles
  • M&M’s
Reindeer Chow ingredients sitting on kitchen counter

How to make Reindeer Chow Muddy Buddies:

To make Reindeer Chow you’ll start by melting the chocolate chips, butter and peanut butter on the stove until smooth. Once done, mix in vanilla extract and salt. 

You’ll pour the Chex into a large bowl (you’ll want a really large one so you can more easily mix your cereal with the peanut butter and chocolate). Pour your chocolate mixture over top of the cereal and give it a good stir. 

Next, you’ll add in the powdered sugar to coat all the Chex. You can also use a ziplock bag to coat the Chex in powdered sugar. Sometimes shaking it in the ziplock bag is easier than trying to stir it in (especially if you have a small bowl to work with). 

Once your Chex is coated in all the powdery goodness you can add in your mix ins (or not, it’s good even without them). Feel free to choose different mix ins than I did. I chose to add pretzels, M&M’s, and holiday sprinkles. You can easily omit the holiday sprinkles and M&M’s if you’d like or change the colors to match whatever holiday is being celebrated.

Reindeer Chow

Reindeer Chow is a festive twist on the classic Muddy Buddy Recipe. Super EASY no bake recipe that's perfect for gifting friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors during the holdiay season. Customize with your own mix ins and gift in a tin or holiday themed bag to give it even more holiday cheer!
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 2 lbs.

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 1/3 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 12.8 oz box Chex (you can choose whichever variety you like)
  • 2 cups small pretzel twists
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • holiday M&M's to taste
  • holiday sprinkles to taste

Instructions
 

  • Melt choclate chips, peanut butter, and butter over medium/low heat. Stir frequently until smooth and combined.
    melting chocolate chips, butter, and peanut butter on stove top
  • Remove from heat. Add the vanilla and salt. Stir to combine.
  • In a large bowl add the Chex. Pour The chocolate/peanut butter mixture over the top and stir well to combine.
    chex mix covered in peanut butter and chocolate
  • Transfer the mixture to a large plastic bag (it's best to do this a little at a time). Pour in a some powdered sugar. Seal bag and shake, shake, shake! Continue to do this until all your chex mixture is coated in powdered sugar.
    Chex mixture in bag to shake on powered sugar
  • At this point you can add in your M&M's, sprinkles, and pretzels. Add however much or little as you'd like. You can even get creative and add in your own additional mix ins such as your favorite chopped up candy bars or some salted peanuts.
    reindeer chow before adding mix ins
  • Distribute the Reindeer Chow into holiday tins or bags to distribute to your friends and family.
    Green bowl filled with reindeer chow
Keyword Christmas, dessert, Holiday Desserts, Holiday Treats, Muddy Buddy, no bake, Puppy Chow, Reindeer Chow

More Holiday Fun Below!

Make sure to check out each of the other ladies’ blogs from this week down below!

Mini Winter Hat Garland- Stairs Up Handle In

Paper Trees – Adventures With Tucknae

Pinecone Christmas Wreath – JoKo Travels

Looking for the perfect gift for RV owner in your life? Make sure to check out our guide to 99 Gift Ideas for RVers!


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9 Comments

    1. Do it!!! You won’t be disappointed 😆 It makes a huge batch too so perfect to keep some and hand some out to friends/family!

      1. 5 stars
        For real!! This is going to be a huge it with the fam!😍

        I also vote yes for the reindeer crack name🤣

    1. Thank you! I have fun memories of doing stuff like this with my sisters growing up ☺️ Super easy to have the kiddos help with

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