Traditional puppy chow coats Chex cereal in melted chocolate and peanut butter, then tumbles it in powdered sugar for a sweet, crunchy, finger‑licking snack. Butterfinger Puppy Chow takes that formula and boosts the flavor by mixing in crushed Butterfinger bars, so every piece has little shards of crispy candy clinging to it.
The base is usually Rice Chex or Corn Chex, which stays light and crisp even under the chocolate‑peanut butter coating, and the whole batch comes together in about 15 minutes with no oven required—just a microwave or stovetop to melt the chocolate mixture. It’s ideal for holiday snack bowls, game‑day munching, bake sales, and using up leftover Butterfinger bars after Halloween.
Equipment
- Extra‑large mixing bowl for tossing Chex cereal with the chocolate‑peanut butter mixture and Butterfinger pieces.
- Medium microwave‑safe bowl or heatproof bowl for melting chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter.
- Spatula or wooden spoon for stirring the melted mixture and gently folding it into the cereal.
- Large zip‑top bag or lidded container for shaking the coated cereal with powdered sugar (or you can toss directly in the bowl).
- Baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper for spreading the puppy chow out to cool and dry.
- Knife and cutting board for chopping Butterfinger bars into small pieces.
- Measuring cups and spoons for cereal, chocolate, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar.
- Airtight container or zip‑top bags for storing the finished snack mix.
Ingredients (with measurements)
Exact quantities vary, but most Butterfinger Puppy Chow recipes follow the same structure. Here is a solid, well‑tested set of measurements based on several sources.
- 7 cups Rice Chex cereal (or Corn Chex; about 210 g).
- 1 cup (about 170 g) semi‑sweet chocolate chips.
- ½ cup (120 g) creamy peanut butter.
- ¼ cup (56 g) salted butter (or unsalted plus a small pinch of salt).
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
- 18 fun‑size Butterfinger candy bars, with about 15 bars finely crushed to mix in and 3 bars roughly chopped for garnish (this is about 2½ cups total chopped candy).
- 1¼ cups (about 150 g) powdered sugar, sifted; some recipes go up to 3–4 cups for a heavier sugar coating on larger cereal batches.
Other versions scale up to 10 cups cereal, 1½–2 cups chocolate, 1½ cups peanut butter, ¼ cup butter, 2½ cups crushed Butterfingers, and around 3½–4 cups powdered sugar, but the proportions remain similar.(See the next page below to continue the steps …)