Free From Strawberry White Chocolate Chex Muddy Buddies

Yay! It’s free from gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, egg, soy, and all the other top 9 major allergens! Contains corn, but see Notes for an easy substitution. Note: This post contains affiliate links, so any purchases made on Amazon through the links will help support Yay, It’s Free From This!

I came up with this idea earlier this year when I realized I had some Navitas Organics Cacao Butter and Barney’s Almond butter (see Notes) in my pantry that was about to expire. Both items are pricy ingredients that I just couldn’t let go to waste. We make my allergy-free version of the classic chocolate Chex Muddy Buddies regularly and since it uses both a nut butter and cocoa, I thought it would be ideal to experiment with the recipe. Plus, Enjoylife’s white chocolate mini chips were relatively new in our life, and I’d been itching to make something special with it.

Now I thought raspberries would be the perfect pairing with white chocolate, but of course I didn’t have any. I did have strawberries though, and although my first attempt turned out good and nothing was wasted, I knew more improvements were needed. I’ve made this two more times, and I still didn’t think it was quite there. Now my latest attempt proved to be the best one! To keep it completely top 9 free, I swapped out the almond butter for Sunbutter in the final recipe. I also significantly increased the amount of strawberries and feel like that is how we finally nailed it. The family confirmed this was the one, but the jury’s still out on which version we love more! 😊

How to make it:

First, measure or weigh your cereal and pour into a large bowl. This is half of a family size box (18oz) of Corn Chex, by the way. Next, measure and place the powdered sugar in a plastic one-gallon ziplock bag. Set aside. Then weigh out 1 ounce of freeze-dried strawberries. Split this into two halves, half an ounce each. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but an ounce is about an entire bag of the Trader Joe’s brand of strawberries.

I like to use a mortar and pestle to grind down the strawberries, but you can also use a spice grinder or food processor. Once half of of the strawberries are ground into a fine powder, add it to the bag of powdered sugar. Grind the rest of the strawberries, but leave it in the mortar and set aside.

For the cocoa butter, I recently purchased Anthony’s cocoa butter to replace the Navitas brand I just used up. I do like this one as well. Both are gluten-free, vegan, and organic with cocoa butter as its only ingredient, so I recommend either one. Place one ounce of cocoa butter in a heat-safe measuring cup. Add the white mini chips, the sunflower butter, and coconut oil. Microwave on high for 1 minute, then stir.

Be careful not to burn or overheat the mixture in this step. Stir for at least 30 seconds to allow any residual heat to gently melt the mixture. But if necessary, microwave again in 10 second increments, stirring thoroughly each time, until it has fully melted and dissolved.

Then add in the finely ground strawberries from the mortar and stir. Pour and scrape this over the cereal. Use a wide spatula to stir and toss this until the cereal is evenly coated. When it’s ready, carefully transfer it all into the plastic bag of powdered sugar and strawberry powder. To minimize waste, I usually like to shake it in a large lidded bowl, but the kids were helping me this time so I definitely needed to use the bag. Anyway, seal it tightly and toss it around gently at first, then the children can aggressively shake away. Be SURE to have them hold the ziplock side tightly when shaking juuuuuust in case it opens. 😳

You should then pour this out onto a large baking sheet to let it cool off completely before storing. However, if you don’t mind them clumping together, you can skip this step (I sure do!) and transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. Or of course, start eating them immediately. 😉

These are also wonderful to gift! My daughter had a substitute teacher for almost 3 months at the beginning of 6th grade this year. Last week was her last day, and Em wanted to make these for her. She was wonderful to Em and we are so grateful to have had her for a teacher, even if it was for a little bit. We truly hope she loves these as much as we do! And if you make these, let us know what you think. 🤗