This post contains affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Muddy Buddy Cookies Recipe – delicious sweet and salty muddy buddy cookies with chocolate, peanut butter, chex cereal and powdered sugar!

Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.
At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe – my goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
I want each reader to walk away with a solid knowledge of each recipe, with all of the tips I’ve gathered from extensive testing of each recipe. I also answer questions my friends and family have asked about my recipes, to help everyone better understand the processes we use – and why!
Table of contents
Delicious and Easy Chocolate Muddy Buddy Cookies
Muddy buddies are delicious and simple cookies to make.
These are the perfect, no-bake, Chex cereal mix of crunchy, chocolatey, and peanut buttery goodness.
Muddy buddy cookies using my recipe stay in perfect, irresistible clusters.
This is the easiest recipe to make. I love no-bake cookies because they’re a great way to introduce kids to cooking and baking without the stress of dealing with too much heat.
People call these muddy buddies or puppy chow – I like to make them with my kids around the holidays and call them reindeer chow.
How to Make Muddy Buddy Cookies
Muddy buddy cookies are super simple to make – but there are a couple of steps that are best to follow in order to be sure your cookies turn out perfect, every time!
- Place the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter into a medium microwave-safe bowl.
- Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Repeat. Keep microwaving and stirring at 15-second intervals until the mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla extract.
- Measure cereal. Pour your cereal into a very large bowl. Pour 1/3 of the chocolate mixture over the cereal and stir. Repeat two more times until the cereal is evenly coated.
- Spoon dollops of the chocolate-cereal cookie mix onto parchment-lined trays. You can also use waxed paper to cool. I prefer to make these about two tablespoons-worth clusters (which will make them about two bites)
- Place trays in the freezer for 30 minutes or the refrigerator for 2 hours to allow the cookies to harden.
- Pour powdered sugar into a bowl. Working one at a time, set the cluster in the powdered sugar and either roll or spoon additional sugar over to coat it. Tap off excess sugar and place the cookie back on the sheet. Repeat with your remaining cookies.
Tips to Perfect Muddy Buddy Cookies & FAQs
I don’t let these sit at room temperature. I keep them in the refrigerator or freezer to keep the clusters together. I store them in an airtight container.
These get messy! That’s the fun of them, but be prepared. I like to keep napkins on hand.
Because of the powdered sugar, I like to make these with semi-sweet chocolate chips. I’ve noticed that the nicer the chocolate, the better they stay together in cookie-like clusters.
FAQs
When I make them with white chocolate, they don’t cluster together as well, but they’re still delicious. If you do them with white chocolate, use a tablespoon less butter.
Absolutely, almond butter is a great alternative for those who are sensitive to peanuts. I love the flavor combo of chocolate and almond butter.
My recipe calls for creamy peanut butter, but if you want to use crunchy to get that extra crunch, add an extra teaspoon
Sure! I tried them with sun butter to tuck them into my kids’ lunchboxes and they loved them!
Other Easy Cookies You’ll Love
If you love these easy muddy buddy cookies, be sure to check out our other easy cookie recipes!
Some of our favorite cookie recipes include our Salted Caramel Butter Thumbprint Cookies Recipe, Easy Gingerbread Truffles Recipe, Easy Millionaire Shortbread Bites Recipe, Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Cookies, The Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe, 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies, and some of our recent cookie recipes below:
You can find the rest of our cookie recipes here.
Muddy Buddy Cookies Recipe
If you love this easy recipe please click the stars below to give it a five star rating and leave a comment! Pease also help me share on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Follow on Instagram
Only have 30 minutes to get dinner on the table? Sign up for my 30 minute dinner plans direct to your inbox!
Find and shop my favorite products in my Amazon storefront here!
Muddy Buddy Cookies Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 & ยฝ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ยพ cup creamy peanut butter
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into slices
- ยพ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 cups rice chex cereal
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Place the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter into a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir. Microwave another 30 seconds, stir. Keep microwaving at 15-second intervals until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Place the cereal in a very large bowl. Add ? of the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Repeat 2 more times until the cereal is evenly coated.
- In parchment-lined sheet trays, add 2 tablespoon-sized dollops of the cereal mixture, not touching onto the trays. I like to gently pack the cluster with the back of a spoon to make sure the cereal is sticking to itself.ย
- Place in the freezer for 30 minutes or the fridge for 2 hours so they can harden.ย
- Place the powdered sugar in a bowl. One at a time, place a cookie cluster in the powdered sugar and coat it. Tap off the excess and place the cookie back on the sheet tray. Repeat with the remaining cookies.ย
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.