This reindeer chow is a Christmas Chex mix that is loaded with sweet, salty and chocolate flavors and is perfect for feeding a crowd. No holiday party is complete without a big bowl of reindeer chow!
Chocolate muddy buddies, holiday M&M’s, peanut butter cups and pretzels all come together for a festive snack mix that’s easy to make and fun to eat! Enjoy reindeer chow with holiday favorites like Christmas crack, crock pot candy and peppermint bark!
You have been warned: this reindeer chow is addicting! I may or may not have grabbed a handful every time I walked by on the day I made this awesome Chex mix. It’s the ultimate Christmas snack with the perfect blend of sweet and savory and it features the classic flavor combination of chocolate and peanut butter.
This chow puts me in the mood for some of my favorite homemade Christmas candy recipes like buckeye balls, cake truffles and rum balls.
Table of Contents
Reindeer Chow Ingredients
To make reindeer chow you will need Rice Chex cereal, semisweet chocolate chips, peanut butter, brownie mix, Christmas M&M’s, mini peanut butter cups and small pretzel twists.
How Do You Make Reindeer Chow?
To make this reindeer chow recipe first place your cereal in a large bowl. In a separate microwave safe medium sized bowl, microwave the semi-sweet chocolate chips and peanut butter until they melt. Stir them together until smooth. Pour the chocolate over the cereal and toss it until the chocolate coats the cereal. Place brownie mix into a gallon size resealable bag. Add the chocolate coated Chex to the bag. Shake so that the cereal becomes coated in the brownie mix. Spread the cereal on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Let the cereal cool and dry. Mix together the dry cereal with M&M’s, mini peanut butter cups and pretzel twists and enjoy!
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- If you don’t want to use brownie mix, you can use powdered sugar with some cocoa powder mixed into it.
- Make sure your bag is sealed before you shake it!
- Kids love to help make this recipe.
- You don’t need an oven for reindeer chow which makes it a delicious no bake recipe. If you want other no bake treats, check out my avalanche cookies and my no bake peanut butter cookies!
- Put some reindeer chow out on Christmas Eve for Santa’s reindeer.
- This Christmas Chex mix makes a large batch, so it’s perfect for a holiday party or to package up in tins or cellophane bags for gift giving.
Quick Tip
Before stirring in chocolate candies, make sure to cool the cereal to room temperature. You don’t want any of the candy getting soft or melting.
Recipe FAQs
If you store reindeer chow in an airtight container in a refrigerator it will stay good up to two weeks. If you have a cool countertop you can store it up to 4 days an airtight container.
Reindeer Chow is the holiday themed version of sweetened Chex mix known as Muddy Buddies, or puppy chow. Reindeer Chow also has candies and pretzels. People have been making versions of puppy chow, Muddy Buddies or sweet Chex mix since at least the 1960s. Many of the early versions of sweetened Chex mix come out of the Midwest.
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Flavor Variations
This recipe is a delicious treat as written; however, you can change it to fit your own taste!
- Nut Free: Simply use white candy melts instead of the peanut butter for the muddy buddies, and instead of miniature peanut butter cups you can use mini marshmallows.
- Powdered Sugar: If you want the cereal to look more white like a Christmas puppy chow recipe, simply replace the brownie mix with powdered sugar.
- Cereal: You can use other flavors of cereal such as Corn Chex, Chocolate Chex, Corn Flakes and Cheerios or use a cereal mixture. I do recommend using some Chex because they hold the chocolate and brownie mix well.
- Chocolate: If you prefer the flavor of white chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips you can use them.
- Candies: You can use other candies or small cookies such as Peanut Butter M&M’s, Peanut M&M’s, Rolo caramels, Reese’s Pieces, mini Oreo cookies and Cadbury Snowballs.
- Nuts: You can add roasted nuts like pecans, cashews, peanuts, almonds or walnuts. You can even add chocolate covered nuts.
To me, it’s not the holidays without reindeer chow. It’s incredibly delicious and couldn’t be any easier to make. In about 20 minutes you can have a fun and festive treat that everyone will love!
More Holiday Treats
Peppermint Patties Recipe
11 mins
Chocolate Covered Cherries
22 mins
Rocky Road Fudge
12 mins
Candy Cane Hearts
16 mins
Reindeer Chow Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Reindeer Chow
Ingredients
- 6 cups Rice Chex cereal
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup dry brownie mix or 1 cup powdered sugar mixed with 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 bag Christmas M&M’s 12 ounce bag
- 2 cups mini peanut butter cups
- 2 cups pretzel twists
Instructions
- Place the cereal in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, combine the chocolate chips and peanut butter. Microwave the chocolate mixture for 30 second intervals until melted; stir until smooth.
- Pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal and use a spatula to gently toss the cereal in the chocolate until completely coated.
- Place the brownie mix inside a resealable gallon sized plastic bag. Add the chocolate coated cereal. Seal, then shake until cereal is coated in the brownie mix.
- Spread the cereal out in a single layer on a sheet of parchment paper; cool completely until dry.
- Combine the cereal, M&M’s, peanut butter cups and pretzel twists, then serve.
Notes
- If you don’t want to use brownie mix, you can use powdered sugar with some cocoa powder mixed into it.
- Before stirring in chocolate candies, make sure to cool the cereal to room temperature. You don’t want any of the candy getting soft or melting.
- Make sure your bag is sealed before you shake it!
If Reese cups are an issue for you , I gave used mini rolos and it comes out amazing also.. so good no matter what you use.!!
quick question! How long does this stay good for? if you were guessing! thanks!
I’d say 5-7 days!
This definitely is something that the kids can help you make in the kitchen! Love that it’s packed with all the yummy treats! It looks really yummy!
First of all….I LOVE The name of your blog!!! This is something my nephews would die for. It was their favorite yummies!
I am sure my kids will love this!! Such a great snack idea for Christmas!
Salty & sweet- you can’t get better than that! This Reindeer Chow sounds yummy to make and to share!
We try to get all of the shopping done early so that we can enjoy things like baking together. Got to add this yummy reindeer chow to our treat list!
Definitely a sweet holiday treat. Bookmarking this for later.. thanks for sharing!
I love that you just called it Reindeer chow! my kids would love this!
I can’t believe i’m just learning about this recipe. It looks amazing and easy-to-make.
Wow this this reindeer chow looks delicious. It will be a great snack for our Holiday movie marathon. I will have to pick up the supplies I need to make some this weekend.
reindeer CHOW SOUNDS LIKE A HOLIDAY PARTY MUST HAVE. i THINK IT WOULD BE A HUGE HIT WITH ADULTS AND CHILDREN ALIKE!
This does look addicting! Yum! I didn’t realize that it had brownie mix. My kiddos would love to whip this up for the holidays. Great recipe!
This looks SO good! I haven’t seen something like this – I need to try making it. I love how festive it is and how tasty too I bet – yum!!
This is a delicious idea for a little treat this holiday season. I will be adding reindeer chow to my list of things to make when I travel to family for gatherings.
This sounds like such a wonderful treat. I like having snacks like this that people can grab and go around the holidays.
I love the combination of sweet M&M’s, pretzels and brownie mix cereal. This type of snack is one of my faves during the holidays.
That looks so good! Other people get excited for presents or decorations for Christmas, but me? I mean, I love everything about Christmas, but treats like that Reindeer Chow is what REALLY makes the season for me. I love holiday nom noms!
What a fun Christmasy snack. My kids are really going to love this.
’tis the season and a big hurrah for it. I agree, this treat makes it official and I Love it!
That looks awesome! I have to make this too. Pretzels and M&Ms, peanut butter cups and brownie mix coated cereal. Wow. I may add some almond slivers in my mix too. Yum.