Woof Woof!

It's official: I am absolutely, positively, head-over heels in love with Pinterest.  It appeals to the most domestic, stylish, crafty, bake-tastic aspects of my personality.  If you haven't been on Pinterest, you should definitely check it out after you read this post (because if you go before you're done reading, you'll get sucked in and there's no way you'll ever think twice about coming back here)!!

Some of my favorite finds on Pinterest are all of the recipes!  I've got a Pin board devoted to nothing but fattening, delicious recipes that I'm dying to try (I just need a few victims!...er...tasters!).  Remember my blog post about making Red Velvet Cakesters?  I found that recipe on Pinterest!  I can spend hours just looking at all of the food on Pinterest.  And sometimes, I do...

If you're a fellow Pinner, you might recognize this recipe I tried last night.  Different variations of it are all over Pinterest and last night I finally gave in a tried it.  Last night, I made Puppy Chow!

Despite it's canine friendly name, this is definitely not a snack for your pooch.  It is sweet, chocolately, peanutty, 100% people food. And so easy to make!  Start to finish, it didn't take me more than 20 minutes to make a huge batch. And it would have taken even less time if I had a 2 gallon bag like the recipe called for (more on that later).

I decided to make the classic, "Chex official" recipe.  First you melt together semisweet chocolate, peanut butter, and butter (I used crunchy peanut butter because that's what we had in the house.  I loved the little peanut bits mixed in with the chow!).  Oh...and the recipe calls for you to add vanilla to the chocolate mixture after you melt it, but I kind of sort of completely spaced and forgot to do that. Oops! So, if you're one of those awesome people who remembers to follow the recipe, you would add vanilla here. If you're like me, you just pretend that vanilla doesn't exist and completely ignore what the recipe calls for. :)

 Then you dump it all over 9 cups of Chex cereal.  You can use rice, corn, wheat or chocolate Chex (or all 4 if you're feeling adventurous).  I used rice Chex (which are gluten free!).

Mix it all together as gently as you can.  Some pieces are going to break.  It's unavoidable.  But the goal is to have more whole pieces than broken pieces once you're done mixing.

 Then the recipe tells you to put it all in a 2-gallon zip-loc bag.  But really, who just has a 2-gallon zip-loc bag on hand?  So I put half of the mix in a one gallon bag and it worked fine.  Put 3/4 of a cup of powdered sugar in your 1 gallon bag and shake like crazy!  Repeat with the rest of the mixture.

 Pour it all out onto a wax (or parchment) paper lined cookie sheet so it can cool and set and there you have it!  Home-made puppy chow!

Warning: If you make this recipe, make sure you have people to share it with, because this stuff is super addictive!  And this recipe makes a ton of chow!  You definitely do not want a full recipe of this stuff sitting around.  You'll just find yourself grabbing another handful every time you pass by until it's all gone.  And your tummy will not be pleased.  Just trust me on this.

So, if you have 20 (or 15 if you happen to have a 2-gallon zip-loc bag lying around.  Where would you even find one of those?!) minutes to spare, I definitely recommend you make some Puppy Chow!  And then I recommend you find someone to share it with! 

Puppy Chow

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Start to Finish: 15 minutes

Makes: 18-1/2 cup servings

Ingredients:

• 9 Cups Rice, Corn, Wheat, or Chocolate Chex Cereal
• 1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
• 1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
• 1/4 Cup Butter or Margarine
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, measure cereal. Set aside.
2. In a 1 quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir.  Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth.  Stir in vanilla.  Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated.  Pour into a 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3. Add powdered sugar.  Seal bag; shake until well coated.  Spread on waxed paper to cool.  Store in an airtight container in refrigerator. 

You can find the nutritional information (if you dare!) here.

Happy chowing!