Christmas Puppy Chow
Cheerful, festive, and colorful 5-minute Christmas Puppy Chow has crunchy cheerios, savory pretzels, and rice chex mixed together with white chocolate and red ‘n green M&M’s for the perfect salty & sweet holiday treat! The best reindeer chow to go with Christmas favorites like Christmas Crack and Christmas Salad.
The Easiest Christmas Puppy Chow Recipe
Welcome to the most festive and easiest recipe for Christmas Puppy Chow or lovingly called “Reindeer Chow”, a Christmas snack mix you and your loved ones will love to make over and over, just like these amazing whipped shortbread cookies and these festive Rolo Pretzels!
With bright red and green candies, salty pretzels and crunchy chex sweetened up with a delicious white chocolate coating to bring it all together, this super easy Christmas Reindeer Chow will be your new favorite holiday tradition!
Reindeer Chow Ingredients
- Cheerios – those tiny rounds of cereal are fun to eat and yummy, but feel free to use any plain cereal that will be delicious with a white chocolate coating
- Chex – I like to use rice Chex, but you can use your favorite cereal here
- Peanuts – I prefer using salted peanuts to increase the salty/sweet factor in this Christmas chow mix. You can also use almonds, cashews, or any of your favorite nuts
- Pretzels – trust me, having two different pretzels made all of the texture difference. I used rods and snaps (grid-like pretzels). People were fighting over who got the snaps, then who got the rods!
- Candies – I used red and green holiday M&M’s because they boast festive colors and are delish. You can also use Rolos, peanut butter cups—whatever you like!
- White Chocolate – you can easily use milk chocolate or dark chocolate here—in which case, you can skip the coconut oil. But do keep it if using white chocolate morsels.
- Coconut Oil – you might be tempted to skip this one, but trust me, it’ll make *all* the difference in melting the white chocolate. This one ingredient will stop the chocolate from overly hardening and getting clumpy.
What is Christmas Reindeer Chow?
Reindeer Chow is a sweet and salty festive holiday treat made of a combination of cereal, nuts, and candies coated with a sweet coating.
How to Make Christmas Puppy Chow
Learn how to make reindeer food with just a few simple and easy steps. You’ll be blown away by how easy it is!
Start by lining a large baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. Then, clear some room in the refrigerator for this sheet—you’ll need it later. Next, add cheerios, rice Chex, peanuts, pretzels, and red and green holiday M&M’s to a large bowl.
Stir this dry mixture together until everything is well mixed.
Then, melt the white chocolate and coconut oil using the double boiler method or a microwave. If using a microwave, heat white chocolate and coconut oil in 15-second increments, stirring together in between heating until melted and smooth.
Using a heatproof spatula, scrape all of the white chocolate from the bowl onto the dry mixture. Here’s the fun part: stir and fold everything together, coating each and every bit in delicious white chocolate.
Your Christmas chow mix should look like this, before and after. Before: you can see the golden brown of the pretzels; after: everything is coated in white chocolate and has a ‘snowy’ look.
Now, pour your reindeer chow mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, spreading into an even layer. Quickly sprinkle the 1 cup of red and green M&M’s toppings over the reindeer chow, pressing down to adhere it.
Place the baking sheet into the refrigerator space you cleared earlier, just until hardened, about 10-20 minutes. Lastly, remove the sheet from the fridge and break into pieces and enjoy the best puppy chow recipe for Christmas!
How to Store Christmas Reindeer Chow
Before storing Christmas reindeer chow, be sure to cool and harden it completely. Then, transfer to an airtight container and store in a cool, dark environment like a pantry for 2-4 weeks.
Can You Freeze Christmas Puppy Chow?
Yes, you can freeze reindeer mix! Allow to cool and harden completely, then store in a freezer-friendly container for 1-3 months.
Tools You Need
- Baking sheet
- Silicone spatula
- Glass mixing bowls
- Stainless steel measuring cups
Deer-ly Wishing You a Festive Season!
How did you like today’s recipe? Let me know in the comments below & leave a rating—it helps everyone! If sharing to social media, tag me @beamingbaker and #beamingbaker. Erik and I wish you a festive, fun, and happy holiday season. ‘Til the next sweet treat…
Sending you all my love and maybe even a Christmas dove, xo Demeter ❤️
more christmas treat recipes
Reindeer Chow – Christmas Puppy Chow
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 64 ¼-cup servings (16 cups total) 1x
Description
Cheerful, festive, and colorful Christmas Puppy Chow mix has crunchy Cheerios, savory pretzels, and rice Chex mixed together with white chocolate and red ‘n green M&M’s for the perfect salty & sweet holiday treat!
Ingredients
Reindeer Chow – Dry Mix
- 2 1/2 cups Cheerios cereal
- 2 1/2 cups rice Chex cereal
- 2 cups peanuts – salted is delicious
- 2 1/2 cups pretzel pieces – I like rods & snaps
- 2 cups red and green holiday M&M’s or other candy, more below
Coating
- 12 oz. white chocolate
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Toppings
- 1 cup red and green holiday M&M’s
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. Clear some room in the refrigerator for this sheet—you’ll need it later. Set aside at room temperature.
- In a very large bowl, add the Dry Mix: Cheerios, rice Chex, peanuts, pretzels, and (2 cups) M&M’s. Stir until thoroughly and evenly mixed.
- Use the double boiler method to melt the white chocolate and coconut oil, or do the following: add white chocolate and coconut oil to a medium, microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 15-second increments until softened and melted, being careful not to burn. Stir thoroughly in between increments to smooth and help melt the chocolate.
- Using a heatproof spatula, scrape every last bit of the melted white chocolate over the dry mix. Stir and fold until everything is coated.
- Pour this mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, spread into an even layer.
- Quickly sprinkle the Topping (1 cup) M&M’s over the white chocolate, pressing it into the melted white chocolate—this will make the reindeer chow pretty!
- Place the baking sheet into the refrigerator to chill for 10-20 minutes, or until firm.
- Remove from the refrigerator and break into pieces, if needed. Enjoy!
★ Last Step: If you made this recipe, leave a comment and review. It truly helps our small business keep running and it helps readers like you!
Notes
To Store: Allow Christmas puppy chow to cool and firm up completely before storing. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-4 weeks. Keep out of direct sunlight and away from heat sources.
To Freeze: Cool and firm reindeer chow, then store in a freezer-friendly container in the freezer for 1-3 months.
- Prep Time: 4 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 minute
- Category: Dessert, Snacks
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
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I made this last year and it was amazing! Everyone devoured it and asked for the recipe. Can’t wait to make it again this year!
That’s so awesome to hear, Diana! I hope you have an absolutely amazing holiday season this year! ☺️
Such an easy and fun mix! This reindeer chow is super addicting!
I know! It literally disappears the moment I finish making it. (And sometimes while it’s still being made 😉)
What a fun and easy to make sweet treat for the holidays! 🙂 I love the sweet & salty combo happening here.
Same here, it’s truly the best. Hope you have a wonderful holidays, Carrie!
I made this as an after school snack for my kids this week and they absolutely loved it! This is such a fun, festive treat and so easy to make too!
How sweet of you! I’m super pleased that the little ones enjoyed it so much. 🙂
We made this reindeer chow for a Christmas movie night snack and loved it. The combo of sweet and salty is perfect. Thank you!
Ooh how fun! So glad to be a part of the holiday enjoyment. 😄
This is my favorite Christmas snack! Sweet and salty and oh so good!
You got that right, Justine!