A springtime spin on the classic favorite “puppy chow” and “moose munch”.
One of the things I miss most about being a kid is the annual hunt for my Easter basket.
Every Easter morning, my siblings and I would race to be the first to find our baskets, solemnly agreeing to not reveal the others’ hiding places if we were to accidentally stumble upon them first.
There was usually a small stuffed animal or other gift hidden with the basket, and breakfast for that morning was dyed, hard-boiled eggs from the night before (which I always skipped) and lots of chocolate (which I always indulged in).
As I got older, my Easter basket stopped being hidden and eventually dissolved altogether into a “community basket” composed primarily of leftover candy that couldn’t be evenly distributed among my younger siblings’ baskets (getting older sucks, doesn’t it?).
In a short matter of time, the best parts of the community basket were picked clean, and it became a dumping ground for candy that my siblings didn’t mind sharing. M&Ms, Reese’s cups, and Robins’ Eggs were plentiful to the point where you eventually just got tired of eating them.
So, I’ve decided to mix these (anticipated) leftover candy pieces up into something new. Taking a cue from the ever-popular “puppy chow”, I’ve added a few cups of smashed Easter candy pieces.
Since it’s likely that a lot of the candy that you will find yourself left with after Easter will be milk chocolate (or if you’re lucky, dark chocolate), I used white chocolate in this “bunny munch” for a little bit of variety in flavor.
Make sure you do a good job of crushing your candy (or chopping it up into small pieces if using candy bars) so that it sticks to the actual cereal and you don’t end up just having white chocolate/peanut butter and powdered sugar coated candy pieces, you want to have the candy mixed in with the actual pieces.
Enjoy!
Bunny Munch
Ingredients
- 5 cups rice chex cereal
- 1 ½ cups white chocolate chips
- ¾ cups creamy peanut butter
- 8 Tbsp salted butter cut into 8 pieces
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups crushed or chopped Easter candy divided (such as M&Ms, Robins' Eggs, chopped fun-size chocolate bars, etc. I wouldn't recommend fruity candy like Starburst or jellybeans)
- 3 cups 10x sugar
Instructions
- Measure out your cereal into a large bowl (make sure it is large enough that you can easily stir the cereal with a spatula)
- Line two cookie sheets with wax paper and set aside (this is where you will spread the cereal to dry after coating)
- In medium-sized, microwave safe bowl, melt together your white chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Do this by microwaving at 15-second intervals, stirring well after every 15 seconds.
- Once mixture is completely melted and smooth, stir in vanilla extract.
- Pour mixture over the chex mix, using a spatula to scrape out all of the contents. Use your spatula to stir the cereal and peanut butter mixture until the cereal is entirely covered.
- Stir in about 1 ¾ cups of your crushed candy.
- Transfer half of the mixture to a large ziploc bag. Add half of the powdered sugar, seal the bag, and shake well until the cereal is completely covered.
- Pour the contents of the bag onto one of your prepared cookie sheets, use a spatula to spread the contents out over the surface area.
- Repeat the process with the remaining cereal and sugar.
- Allow the cereal to cool so that it isn't sticky for at least 30 minutes.
- Transfer to serving dish and sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup crushed cereal.
- Serve!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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Joleen @ Joleen Cuisine
YAYYAY for muddy buddies!! (Or at least that’s what I know it as 😛 ) It’s so colorful! I swear these are so addicting I could probably go through a whole bag of these on my own…
Sam
Yes, I’ve heard it by that name too! For such a simple snack it sure does have a lot of different monikers! Thank you, Joleen! 🙂
Marsha | Marsha's Baking Addiction
This bunny munch sounds perfect to snack on – especially for us peanut butter lovers! 🙂
Medha @ Whisk & Shout
How cute! Easter m&ms are my favorites- especially the peanut butter egg versions 🙂