Rice cereal coated with semi-sweet and mint chocolates, tossed in powdered sugar, and sprinkled with candy canes. This Candy Cane Puppy Chow is a unique, easy holiday treat!
12 Days of Holiday Treats: Day 4
Today is Day 4 of SugarSpicesLife’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats. This is the second year of my 12 day series of holiday candies, cookies and other treats.
If you’re keeping up, so far this year I’ve shared:
Hot Chocolate Cookies
Orange Shortbread Cookies
Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
For even more holiday recipes, you can check out the 2020 series here.
Candy Cane Puppy Chow
Today’s recipe is for Candy Cane Puppy Chow. It’s perfect to put in a treat-filled gift box or to serve at a party.
If you’d like more ideas for mint treat recipes, you can check out these:
Peppermint Bark Fudge
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Oreo Peppermint Bark
Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Step One: Melt the Chocolates
In a microwave safe bowl, stir together:
- 5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- 5 ounces mint chocolate baking chips
- 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
- pinch of salt
Heat mixture in the microwave on 50% power, stirring every 30-60 seconds, until the chocolate has melted and is smooth.
Now, let’s chat about the choice of chocolates to melt:
Why not use all mint chocolate baking chips? Too much mint.
Can you use peppermint baking chips? You can, but peppermint chips have a stronger mint flavor.
Bottom line, I recommend that you use the chocolate proportions I have listed above to avoid having puppy chow that tastes like toothpaste.
Step Two: Stir and Shake
I believe most of us have made puppy chow and know what to do. (***Editor’s note – we haven’t and we don’t – that’s why we are here***) But let’s review:
- Place the rice cereal in a large bowl
- Pour the melted chocolate over the cereal and stir until well coated
- Transfer the coated cereal to a gallon sized freezer bag
- Pour powdered sugar into the bag
- Seal the bag and start shaking
A great recipe for kids to help with!
Step Three: Candy Canes
The final step is to stir in crushed candy canes. I place 5 regular sized peppermint candy canes into a sandwich bag, cover the bag with a towel, and hit it with the smooth side of a meat mallet until the candy canes are crushed.
Make sure that you crush the candy canes well – if you don’t, you will end up biting into large chunks of hard sugar left in the finished product.
If you want to use more candy canes, it will look quite pretty, BUT, you (again) run the risk of your puppy chow having an overpowering peppermint taste.
Storage
Fun fact: You can freeze puppy chow! Simply place the puppy chow in a sealed gallon sized freezer bag.
If you’re planning on putting the puppy chow in a holiday treat box, I recommend using a sealed bag. Otherwise, it tends to make everything else in the treat box taste like peppermint.
This Candy Cane Puppy Chow is a fun twist on a classic treat!
Candy Cane Puppy Chow
Ingredients
- 8 cups square rice cereal
- 5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 5 ounces mint chocolate baking chips
- pinch salt
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 4-5 crushed peppermint candy canes regular size candy canes
- 1-1.5 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Place cereal in a large bowl.
- In a microwave safe bowl, sti together semi-sweet chocolate chips, mint chocolate chips, salt, and vegetable oil. Heat in microwave on 50% power, stirring well every 30 seconds, until chocolate has melted and is smooth.
- Pour melted chocolate over cereal and stir well to ensure that all of the cereal is covered with chocolate.
- Transfer chocolate coated cereal to a gallon size resealable bag. Pour 1 cup of powdered sugar into bag. Seal bag and shake so that cereal becomes evenly coated with the powdered sugar. Add more powdered sugar if needed.
- Pour crushed candy canes into bag and again shake again.
- Transfer mix to a bowl for serving.
Disclaimer: All nutritional information provided on this website is an estimate only and is not guaranteed.
If you enjoyed this Candy Cane Puppy Chow, you might also enjoy these other SugarSpicesLife recipes:
Sugar Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Chocolate Coconut Macaroons
Easy Toffee
Butterfinger Truffles
Chocolate Eclair Puffs
