Rainbow Puppy Chow

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Rainbow Puppy Chow is a colorful gluten free and vegetarian snack or dessert! Perfect for a unicorn or rainbow party and St Patrick’s Day.

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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! You can find all of the puppy chow recipes here! This Rainbow Puppy Chow recipe also makes a great Pride month dessert!

Arrange the rainbow muddy buddies in either a rainbow shape, or simply as stripes or in bowls. The recipe below makes more of red, orange, and yellow, because you need more of those for the rainbow shape. If not making the rainbow, make the same amount of each color and you can skip the white. You just need 1 cup of cereal for 1/2 cup of candy melts and 1/3 cup of powdered sugar. A serving is considered 1/2 cup of cereal.

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 kids rainbow 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, orange candy melts here, yellow candy melts here, green candy melts here, royal blue candy melts here, and purple candy melts here. If you are making the clouds, get bright white candy melts here. You can also find them at your local craft store.

Rainbow Puppy Chow recipe is a colorful dessert perfect for a unicorn rainbow party, St Patrick's Day, or Pride month. Gluten free and vegetarian. #rainbowpuppychowrecipe #puppychow #rainbow #unicorn #pride

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Prep Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

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

Servings: servings (5 1/2cups total)

Calories: 274kcal

Ingredients

5 1/2 cups rice Chex cereal divided
1/2 cup red candy melts
1/2 cup orange candy melts
1/2 cup yellow candy melts
1/4 cup green candy melts (sometimes called dark green)
1/4 cup royal blue candy melts
1/4 cup purple candy melts (called lavender)
1/2 cup bright white candy melts
2 1/3 cups powdered sugar divided

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 the Chex cereal. 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 yellow candy melts next, using 1 cup of Chex cereal and fresh powdered sugar.
Repeat the process with the orange candy melts next, using 1 cup of Chex cereal and fresh powdered sugar.
Repeat the process with the purple candy melts next, using 1/2 cup of Chex cereal and fresh powdered sugar.
Repeat the process with the red candy melts next, using 1 cup of Chex cereal and fresh powdered sugar.
Repeat the process with the green candy melts next, using 1/2 cup of Chex cereal and fresh powdered sugar.
Repeat the process with the blue candy melts next, using 1/2 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.

Notes

This proportion is for the rainbow shape as you need more of the red, orange, and yellow than green, blue, and purple. Adjust the quantities if desired to be even if you are not making a rainbow, either all at 1/2 or 1/4 cup of candy melts.

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.

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 also use marshmallows instead of the white puppy chow to make fluffy clouds!

You can find all of the puppy chow recipes here!

Get red candy melts here, orange candy melts here, yellow candy melts here, green candy melts here, royal blue candy melts here, and purple candy melts here. If you are making the clouds, get bright white candy melts here. You can also find them at your local craft store.