This Mardi Gras Puppy Chow is a fun and easy way to make a treat to celebrate! Rice Chex mix is covered in purple, gold, and green candy melts for a sweet dessert or snack.
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I love puppy chow, also called muddy buddies, for all the different flavors you can use. It brings me back to my childhood! This Mardi Gras Puppy Chow is perfect for a Mardi Gras party representing the colors of the holiday. You can find all of the puppy chow recipes here!
King Cakes, another Mardi Gras tradition, tend to have a plastic baby hidden in them. Getting the baby means that you are responsible for making the next cake. For fun, you could also put a plastic baby in the puppy chow, but it will be easy to find! I like to use them regardless just to add some additional Mardi Gras flare, plus some beaded necklaces. This Fat Tuesday carnival recipe before Lent is so easy!
Now at some point in the process, you are probably going to think at least one of the following (if not all, like I did):
- There is NO WAY that little amount of candy melts will cover all this cereal!
- OH NO the cereal is BREAKING!
- WHY DO THEY ALL LOOK WHITE! I MESSED UP! I CAN’T SEE THE COLOR!
But it’s okay, all of the above are FINE. The candy melts DO cover that much cereal, just keep stirring. The cereal might break a little but that’s okay! Just be gentle. And the colors DO look pretty white when they come out of the bag. But shaking them in the fine mesh strainer gets rid of all that extra powdered sugar and you will see the color! Have faith!
Candy melts are pretty sweet, but they provide the perfect color for colored puppy chow. I do not recommend using white chocolate and trying to color it, because white chocolate does not melt very well and it takes a lot of coloring to make bold colors. If these are too sweet on their own, you could mix them with something salty like little pretzels or peanuts. Get purple candy melts here, yellow candy melts here, and green candy melts here. You can also find them at your local craft store.
Mardi Gras Puppy Chow
Ingredients
- 3 cups rice Chex cereal divided
- 1/2 cup yellow candy melts
- 1/2 cup green candy melts
- 1/2 cup purple candy melts (called Lavender by Wilton)
- 1 cup powdered sugar divided
Instructions
- Place each color of candy melts in separate bowls that are large enough to mix the cereal in for each color (I like to use deep soup bowls).
- Place 1/3 cup powdered sugar in a quart or gallon sized resealable plastic bag.
- Melt the lightest color (yellow) of candy melts in the microwave as per package directions. Stir frequently to encourage melting.
- When fully melted, immediately mix in the Chex mix. (1 cup of cereal for the 1/2 cup of candy melts). Gently toss with a spoon to fully coat.
- Immediately transfer the cereal to the plastic bag with the powdered sugar. Seal and shake. Gently massage the bag from the outside to encourage the cereal to separate, but gentle enough so they do not break.
- Pour the bag contents into a sieve (fine mesh strainer) over another bowl. Shake to remove excess sugar.
- Pour the cereal out on a parchment paper or silicone baking mat lined baking sheet to dry. If there are any pieces that were stuck together, you can pull them apart, dunk them into the discarded sugar, and shake again.
- Let the candy melts that was left behind in the bag dry for a few minutes, then you can crinkle up the bag to remove the candy melts and make it ready for the next color.
- Repeat the process with the green candy melts next, using 1 cup of Chex cereal and fresh powdered sugar.
- Repeat the process with the purple candy melts next, using 1 cup of Chex cereal and fresh powdered sugar.
- Mix the colors together, or keep separate, and serve. The puppy chow can be stored in a container or bag for up to 2 days.
