Butterscotch Muddy Buddies
Chex muddy buddies are one of the best snacks to make and eat, and these butterscotch muddy buddies are my new favorite! This muddy buddy recipe features just five ingredients, with a mix of chocolate and butterscotch for a sweet and crispy snack that reminds me of Scotcharoos.
I’m obsessed with classic muddy buddies—I make my Small Batch Muddy Buddies all the time. But I love experimenting with new flavors, like this butterscotch version. If you are also looking for more muddy buddies flavors, be sure to check out my different variations, like Strawberry Muddy Buddies and Oreo Muddy Buddies. Or, put a spin on the classic with Muddy Buddy Cookies!
Why This Recipe Works
- Homemade muddy buddies. I know you can buy muddy buddies from the store, but I feel like they never have enough coating on the cereal. Trust me, homemade tastes WAY better—and they’re so simple to make! They’re the perfect treat to make when you want a quick and yummy snack.
- Muddy buddies without peanut butter. In traditional muddy buddy recipes, peanut butter is a key ingredient, but it’s not very allergy-friendly. These chocolate and butterscotch muddy buddies are made without peanut butter.
- Easy muddy buddies recipe. This recipe only has five simple ingredients and takes minutes to make. The hardest part of making this yummy treat is mixing the melted chocolate and butterscotch with your cereal!
Ingredient Notes
- Butterscotch chips: The key ingredient to butterscotch muddy buddies! If you’re a butterscotch lover, you’ll definitely love these.
- Milk chocolate chips: Butterscotch and chocolate are a match made in heaven, so it’s only right we make these butterscotch and chocolate muddy buddies. Feel free to substitute semi-sweet chocolate chips if that’s what you have.
- Vanilla extract: This complements and enhances the flavor of both the chocolate and the butterscotch.
- Powdered sugar: A must-have ingredient for muddy buddies, powdered sugar is important to keep the muddy buddies from forming a single enormous clump. Small clumps of muddy buddies are one of the best parts of this delicious snack, but not a giant one!
- Chex cereal: Another must-have ingredient! You can use corn or rice Chex cereal, or a mix of both. I do not recommend using wheat Chex, as it has a very different texture.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Prep Chex cereal. Pour 2½ cups of Chex cereal into a medium bowl and set the bowl aside.
- Prep powdered sugar. Add ⅓ of a cup of powdered sugar to a ziplock bag and set it aside.
- Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips. Add a ½ cup each of milk chocolate chips and butterscotch chips to a microwavable bowl. Set your microwave to half-power, then microwave chocolate chips and butterscotch chips together for 30 seconds. Remove and stir, then heat for another 30 seconds. Remove and stir until the chips are fully melted and mixed together. If they are not fully melted, continue to microwave them at half power for 15-second increments, stirring after each time until fully melted.
- Add vanilla extract. Add a ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract to your chocolate-butterscotch mixture, and stir to combine.
- Mix cereal and chocolate. Pour the melted butterscotch chips and chocolate chips mixture over the Chex cereal in your mixing bowl and gently but thoroughly stir until the cereal pieces are evenly coated with the mixture.
- Cover in powdered sugar. Once the cereal is coated in chocolate, add the cereal mixture to your ziplock bag with the powdered sugar, seal the bag, and shake until the cereal is entirely covered with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
If you find the butterscotch flavor to be too sweet, swap out the milk chocolate chips in this recipe for dark chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate chips to counteract the sweetness. Some other fun swaps for milk chocolate chips include white chocolate chips or even peanut butter chips.
Out of ziplock bags? Don’t worry! A large bowl with a tight-fitting lid will do in a pinch. Add your chocolate-coated cereal to the bowl, pour the powdered sugar over the top, seal it with your lid, and shake thoroughly.
If you’d like to add peanut butter flavor to make these taste even more like scotcharoos, add ¼ cup of creamy peanut butter to the chocolate and butterscotch chips during the melting process.
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing
Make Ahead: Muddy buddies stay good for up to two weeks—if they last that long! These are a perfect snack to make ahead of time.
Storing: Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks. If your home is warm, you may want to store them in the fridge so the chocolate coating doesn’t get too soft. Some people prefer their muddy buddies to be cold.
Freezing: Speaking of cold muddy buddies, you can absolutely freeze these! They’ll stay good in the freezer for up to two months. I know some people who actually prefer to eat their muddy buddies right out of the freezer for extra crunch!
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! You can freeze muddy buddies to store them for up to two months or eat them straight out of the freeze for a cool and crunchy snack.
As long as you use gluten-free cereal like rice or corn Chex, and make sure your chocolate and butterscotch chips don’t contain gluten (to be safe), then yes! Muddy buddies are definitely gluten-free.
Kept at room temperature, muddy buddies can stay fresh for up to two weeks in an airtight container. Store them in the fridge or freezer and they can last a month or two.
There’s no difference between recipes for muddy buddies or puppy chow, other than the name. It just depends on where you’re from! Puppy chow seems to be the more usual name in the Midwest. Around Christmas time, some even refer to this snack as reindeer chow!
If you use vegan chocolate and butterscotch chips, these muddy buddies can be made vegan.
More Butterscotch Recipes
If you love all things butterscotch, you’re sure to love these wonderful recipes!
- Butterscotch Cake
- Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Butterscotch Ice Cream
- Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
- Salted Butterscotch Sauce
Butterscotch Puppy Chow
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups Chex Cereal - I use Rice or Corn Chex
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Place the Chex cereal in a medium size bowl. Set aside.
- Place the powdered sugar in a large Ziploc bag, set aside.
- In a microwave safe bowl add the milk chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. Microwave on half power for 30 seconds. Stir and heat again for 30 seconds. If it's not fully melted at this point, continue microwaving at half power in 15 second intervals, stirring well between each interval, until fully melted.
- Add the vanilla extract to the melted mixture and stir to combine.
- Pour the melted chocolate over the Chex cereal. Gently stir until all of the cereal is covered in the mixture. Transfer the chocolate coated cereal to the Ziploc bag that contains powdered sugar. Seal tight. Then shake until the cereal is coated in powdered sugar.
- Enjoy!
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2 Comments on “Butterscotch Muddy Buddies”
These looked very yummy and, just like traditional puppy chow, easy to make. However, if I were to follow this recipe again, I would omit vanilla extract entirely. Adding it to the melted chips causes it to seize up immediately. I ended up having to make a sort of puppy chow cluster simply because the seized chocolate doesn’t stir, but I wasn’t going to waste food, money, or my time. Just leave the vanilla out when making them yourself.
Sorry that happened to you, Morgan! You can also add a small amount of coconut oil to chocolate to help it smooth back out.