Nut-Free Dairy-Free 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 and coconut, but see Notes for an easy substitutions.

Nut-free dairy-free Chex Muddy Buddies is a fun, sweet, chocolatey snack mix that is as good as the original recipe. I can probably consume a whole batch all by myself! Also called Puppy Chow, this is an amazing and delicious treat for after school, lunch, movie night or birthday parties. The classic recipe is usually found on the back of the cereal box of Corn Chex. Ingredients can easily be swapped for an allergy-friendly and safe version for anyone allergic to nuts, gluten or dairy. I have made this many times for playdates and it’s a crowd favorite. Parents and friends are always asking me for the allergy-free recipe, so I thought it was absolutely appropriate for this to be my very first post. Enjoy!

Here’s how I make my free from version:

Use sunbutter in place of peanut butter and coconut oil or vegan butter for the dairy butter. If not allergic, you can use other nut or seed butters and regular dairy butter too. For the chocolate, I’m a huge fan of Enjoylife and use or buy their products almost obsessively. Because of all the sugar, I like using the dark chocolate morsels for this recipe to balance it out a bit.

I weigh the sunflower seed butter, coconut oil and nut-free/dairy-free chocolate together in a microwave safe measuring cup. Microwave for one minute on high, stir, then another 30 seconds. This may vary depending on your microwave, so start with 30 second increments and stir each time. Chocolate burns easily, so proceed carefully!

Add the vanilla after the mixture has fully melted. Vanilla extract is added at the end of cooking to maximize the vanilla flavor since it’s mostly alcohol and can evaporate. (Btw, I have definitely forgotten the vanilla step many times, and it still turned out good! ;))

Weigh about nine ounces of Corn Chex into a large bowl. I’m using the bowl I’ll be shaking the mix with since this one comes with a lid. The classic method calls for transferring the coated cereal into a large ziplock bag and shaking it up with the powdered sugar. This step is so much fun to do with the kids! So definitely use a ziplock bag instead of a lidded-bowl if you have little helpers involved here.

Stir the cereal up with a spatula and make sure it’s all coated with the chocolate mixture. I add the powdered sugar directly on top, then cover with the lid and carefully turn the bowl upside down and all around, while shaking a bit left and right. I do keep my hands over the lid and bowl on each side and do this over the sink juuuuuust in case the lid decides to pop off.

Once shaken thoroughly, you should pour it onto a large baking sheet to cool. I like to save dishes so instead, I pour it out into what I plan on storing it in, which is a large elongated plastic storage container. This One gallon container by Rubbermaid is the one I use. I cover it and pop it into the refrigerator to cool. It honestly tastes exactly like the classic recipe! Hope you and yours LOVE it as much as we do!