Yep. You read that right. I made a Puppy Chow, or Muddy Buddy if you prefer, pie!
So, are we done with the January diets yet? Because this is decidedly NOT diet food. But it is so delicious I promise you won’t care.
You all know what Puppy Chow is, right? It’s a chocolate and peanut butter mixture that you pour all over Chex cereal, which you then douse with powdered sugar. It is highly addictive, and definitely one of my favorite sweet treats. The best pieces are the ones that are coated a little thicker with the chocolate and peanut butter.
So I figured, why not just fill a pie shell with that filling? And if you made that pie crust with crushed up cereal, so much the better. And then you certainly can’t stop there – better put a heavy coat of powdered sugar on top.
This is a pretty simple pie, but it is very rich. A small slice goes a long way. And you can certainly change it up (but I don’t know why you would want to 🙂 ). Use white chocolate chips instead, or even milk chocolate or butterscotch. Try using a different nut butter or even using Nutella in it’s place. And if the powdered sugar seems like just too much, go ahead and top it with crushed nuts (peanuts, hazelnuts, whatever makes you happy), or pretty sprinkles for a special occasion. I hope you give this a try – you will love it!
- 4 cups Chex cereal (rice or corn)
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- powdered sugar, for topping
- Finely crush the cereal. You should end up with about 2 cups of crumbs. Mix well with the sugar and melted butter. Spray a 9" pie pan with baking spray, and press crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of pan. Use a small greased bowl or measuring cup to help. Bake the crust at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
- While crust is baking, heat chocolate chips and whipping cream in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, until chocolate is melted. Add peanut butter and stir until smooth. Microwave additional 15 seconds if mixture is not hot enough to melt peanut butter. Stir in vanilla. Chill mixture in the refrigerator until room temperature and beginning to hold it's shape. It should be about the consistency of peanut butter. Whisk briefly by hand, just until mixture begins to lighten in color. Immediately spread into cooled crust and refrigerate, about 30 minutes to an hour, until firm.
- Dust generously with powdered sugar and serve. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
- You can use different cereals (rice krispies, corn flakes, etc.), as long as they are unsweetened and crunchy. You need 2 cups once crushed.
- Substitute semisweet chocolate with any chips you like.
- Any nut butter or Nutella can be substituted for the peanut butter.
- Top with crushed nuts or sprinkles instead of powdered sugar, if desired.
Fall Pumpkin Chocolate Bark
It’s back to the field for me this week, so I’ve got a really quick recipe for you. Actually, it’s not even a recipe. Chocolate bark is so easy, and infinitely customizable.
I had a bag of pumpkin spice chips sitting in my pantry, and I’ve been trying to decide what to make with them. Cookies, bars, cupcakes – they’ve all been done. But pumpkin spice chocolate bark? That sounded perfect for a busy weekend.
I dug though my collection of chocolate molds, and found that I had a pumpkin version. Mine has 12 cavities that are about 1 inch across. You can find these in some hobby stores, as well as in cake decorating supply stores (there is usually at least one in good-sized cities) and online. I started by melting down a few green candy melts and piped that into the stems. You can also paint it in with a paintbrush (that you use only for food) or even a toothpick. Then I melted about 1 cup of the chips and spooned that into the pumpkins. I melt my chips and candy melts in the microwave in 15 to 30 second bursts. The one cup of chips made 24 pumpkins, or two trays worth in my mold.
While the pumpkins were firming up in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, I melted a pound of chocolate almond bark. I spread that out between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick on a parchment (or wax-paper) lined baking sheet. Before it set, I added the pumpkins and threw on some fall leaf sprinkles for a little color and variety. Once it started to set, but before it was completely firm, I scored it into pieces with a sharp knife. I put it in the refrigerator for a few minutes so it could set completely, and then broke it along the scored lines.
The best part about this is how easy it is to customize. You could use any flavor almond bark or chocolate for the base – try different baking chip flavors like butterscotch, cinnamon, or white chocolate. The same goes for the pumpkins. And you don’t have to have a chocolate mold – you could pipe simple shapes onto wax paper and let them set before dropping them onto the base chocolate. Or if all you have are some pretty sprinkles, drop the contrasting chocolate by spoonfuls onto the base and swirl with a skewer or knife before adding the sprinkles. This was so much fun and gave me so many other ideas! I’m sure you’ll see the concept again around Christmas!