This easy homemade puppy chow recipe (also known as muddy buddies) is a Salted Caramel Cookies ’n Cream version! The addition of Oreos and caramel makes this puppy chow irresistible!
A few weeks ago, I made a batch of Sea Salted Nutella Peanut Puppy Chow, which was, perhaps, one of the most addictive desserts I have ever tasted.
It was pure danger.
I couldn’t stop after just one bite. And, like every good sugar addict, once it was gone, instead of keeping it out of the house like I should, I instead decided to make a new batch. With Oreos. And caramel sauce.
The end result? So, so good. Salted Caramel Cookies ’n Cream Puppy Chow is my newest obsession.
What makes this Oreo puppy chow unique is that one, it has caramel in it (and chocolate and caramel is one of my favorite flavor combos–ever), and two, I mixed white, dark, and milk chocolate. Most Oreo or cookies ‘n cream puppy chows do a separate white chocolate chow and a chocolate chow, which I’m sure is fantastic. But for me, I’m not crazy about white chocolate on its own. But I LOVE white chocolate when it’s mixed with regular chocolate.
So, I decided I would make one batch of Oreo chow, and one batch of caramel chow. And it may have been one of my best decisions ever.
This is a perfect snack for a party, for a road trip, for movie night, for life, etc. But really, make this for your kid’s end of the year class party or as the teacher’s gift. You’ll be a hero. You really can’t go wrong with chocolate, Oreos, caramel, and powdered sugar. Oh, and imagine mixing this with some chocolate ice cream. I haven’t actually tried that, so if you hate it, don’t blame me entirely. But, I can’t really imagine that this wouldn’t be the perfect topping for an ice cream sundae.
Now, getting back to the baking aspect, this recipe is super simple and only has a few ingredients. The only thing that can be tricky here is melting the chocolate. Chocolate can be extremely temperamental, especially when melted in the microwave, and it can seize easily. Seizing is when the melted chocolate clumps up instead of being smooth and silky.
To avoid seizing, melt chocolate with shortening or oil on a low microwave power or over low heat with a double broiler. I would avoid melting chocolate with butter, for butter contains water properties that can cause the melted chocolate to seize.
And there are few baking disasters as frustrating as seized chocolate. So, when melting chocolate, you do really have to babysit it. My microwave is extremely powerful, thus when I melt chocolate, I do 10-second increments on 50% power, stirring after each round in the microwave. When the chocolate is almost completely melted, I take it out of the microwave and stir it until the heat of the melted chocolate melts the rest of the chocolate. This helps me avoid overheating it.
Similarly, for a double broiler, melt the chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. Once most of the chocolate is melted, take it off the heat, and stir until all of it is melted. And, on a side note, I don’t actually own a double broiler. Instead, I use a makeshift one by filling a bit of water in a medium saucepan, placing a large glass mixing bowl on top, and then melting the chocolate in the glass bowl.
I’m just gonna go ahead and face plant right in that bowl.
- 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate squares or chocolate chips
- 3 oz milk chocolate squares or chips
- 3 oz white chocolate squares or chips
- 1 1/2 tsp canola oil or 1 1/2 tsp shortening
- 4 cups Rice Chex cereal
- 4 Oreos crushed into pieces
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup caramel sauce
- 1/4 tsp sea salt or table salt
- 2 cups Rice Chex cereal
- 4 Oreos crushed into pieces
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
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Begin by crushing the 8 oreos in a food processor (you can do by hand, but it takes longer). Add half the mixture to one large zippered baggie, and the other half to a second zippered baggie. Set aside.
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Set out two large bowls. Place 4 c of cereal into one, and 2 c into the other. Set aside.
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Take two small bowls and place the milk and semi-sweet chocolate in one and the white in the other. Pour 1 tsp of oil in with the milk and semi-sweet chocolate. Pour the other 1/2 tsp of oil in with the white chocolate. Melt the bowls separately.
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Once the chocolate is melted, pour both bowls into the bowl with 4 c Rice cereal. Stir gently. You want all pieces to be mostly covered by the chocolate, but you don't want to crush the fragile cereal.
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In the other bowl of cereal, pour the 1/2 c of caramel and salt over the cereal. Stir gently.
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Once both cereals are mixed and coated, pour each bowl into the zippered baggies. Zip them up, and shake until the oreo crumbs have stuck.
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Open the baggies up, and in the bag with the chocolate, pour 1 c of powdered sugar into the bag, and shake until completely coated. In the caramel bag, pour 1/2 c powdered sugar into the bag and shake until completely coated.
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Enjoy!
Here some other Puppy Chow Recipes (Muddy Buddy Recipes) you might love!
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