Patriotic Red, White, and Blue Puppy Chow made with gluten free rice Chex and colored candy melts. A muddy buddies recipe for USA Memorial Day, Labor, Day, and 4th of July featuring American colors.

Candy melts cover rice Chex mix to make a fun, easy patriotic dessert snack recipe. I love puppy chow, also called muddy buddies, for all the different flavors you can use. It brings me back to my childhood! You can find all of the puppy chow recipes here!

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 red candy melts here, yellow candy melts here, and bright white candy melts here. You can also find them at your local craft store.

I got these adorable glass star dishes at the dollar store, which was quite a find! And I am a lover of all things sparkle and glitter, so of course these glitter stars grace every patriotic holiday party. The little touches really drive home the red, white, and blue theme!

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Patriotic Red, White, and Blue Puppy Chow

Patriotic Red, White, and Blue Puppy Chow made with gluten free rice Chex and colored candy melts. A muddy buddies recipe for USA Memorial Day, Labor, Day, and 4th of July featuring American colors.

5 from 4 votes

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Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: 30 Min or Less, Game Day, Gluten Free, Holiday, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 20

Total Time: 20

Servings: servings (3 cups total)

Calories: 253kcal

Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

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 (white) of candy melts in the microwave as per package directions. Stir frequently to encourage melting.
When fully melted, immediately mix in 1 cup of Chex mix. 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 red candy melts next, using 1 cup of Chex cereal and fresh powdered sugar.
Repeat the process with the blue candy melts next, using 1 cup of Chex cereal and fresh powdered sugar.
When each color is dry, 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.

Notes

This puppy chow is sweeter than normal because it uses candy melts instead of chocolate. If it seems to sweet, you can mix it with salty ingredients like pretzels or peanuts.

You can use any flavor or variety of Chex cereal that you wish, however rice keeps these gluten free.

Start with the lightest color and work towards the darkest just in case any pieces pick up color from a previous batch in the bag.

Use any ratio of colors you want. You need 1 cup of cereal for every 1/2 cup of candy melts and 1/3 cup of powdered sugar. I got about 6 cups of cereal in an 12 ounce box after pulling out broken pieces.

I like to start melting the next color after I have tossed the previous color in powdered sugar, before shaking in the strainer, to save some time.

You can find all of the puppy chow recipes here!

Get red candy melts here, royal blue candy melts here, and bright white candy melts here. You can also find them at your local craft store.

Nutrition

3 thoughts on “Patriotic Red, White, and Blue Puppy Chow”

Jere Cassidy

June 29, 2021 at 12:49 PM

This is just the prettiest snack and perfect for a patriotic celebration. This will surely be a hit at a party.
Liz

July 2, 2021 at 11:56 AM

Puppy chow is my favorite and this is such a fun and festive recipe for the 4th!! Thanks for the cute idea!
amy liu dong

June 30, 2024 at 4:00 AM

This Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddies recipe is quick to make and delicious!
I will include this in our menu for this coming July 4th celebration. I am sure not only the kids will love this but even the adults!