About Fluffernutter Puppy Chow
Have you ever heard of fluffernutter cookies, fluffernutter brownies, fluffernutter muffins, or any other type of finger-food dessert that’s secure enough in its masculinity to go by the name fluffernutter?
I’d never heard of it up until two days ago because, you see, I made a huge batch of homemade marshmallow fluff last week with the intention of making a really elaborate cake. And oh, I put everything I had into making this cake, because it was going to be The Next Big Thing for this blog. We’re talking huge. It was going to be my hall of fame cake for months and months to come.
But it wasn’t until I was decoratively flicking on the last bit of chocolate ganache topping on this cake that I accepted the cold, hard truth: this cake was awful.
And why was that, you may ask? Plenty of reasons. The cake baked too moist and flat, the filling was so slippery that it caused the top layer of the cake to constantly slide, my caramel frosting was tinted with a thousand chocolate cake crumbs that were flaking off the too-moist cake – just to name a few. In short, I tried to achieve a Pinterest win and ended up with a leaning tower of sugary Pinterest fail on my dining room table.
Because, yes, the cake also slid off my cake stand and splattered onto the table.
The whole event was a huge waste of time, and if I’m being honest, the only good thing that came from it was that homemade marshmallow fluff.
But despite the cake fiasco, I was still determined to find a way to write a post that included marshmallow fluff this week. Primarily because I said I was going to, secondly because I am as stubborn as my red hair would lead you to believe (and refuse to admit defeat), and thirdly because I have six cups of the fluff I need to get rid of. Well, actually, I guess it’s 5 cups now if you count all of my “taste testing.”
Seriously though, you guys, this stuff is delicious. Sometimes I wonder if desserts just get in my way.
I could just dive right in this and be happy.
However, I still wanted to actually make something, and when faced with this dilemma, I did what I always do in when I’m in need inspiration: I did a quick search on Pinterest to see what would come up.
And sure enough, one of the first results was for fluffernutter cookies. After I giggled like a 12-year-old for a few minutes (because, that name…) I read a few recipes to get a feel for the ingredients and I immediately thought one thing: this would be perfect. Only I wasn’t actually thinking about making cookies, or brownies, or anything else I saw come up in the Pinterest search results.
I was going to make puppy chow!
You see, last week I also made mock Baby Ruth bars, and in that post I talked about how I had butterscotch on hand because I originally planned to use it for another recipe. That other recipe (that I still hope to make one day) was for scotcheroos, and scotcheroos use Chex cereal, so I already had some on hand. When last weeks’ recipe for Baby Ruth bars was made, I burned through my stockpile of butterscotch, so I no longer had an immediate use for the Chex… until I started to bridge the gaps and realized I could make something totally different instead. Like, say, fluffernutter puppy chow.
YES. That’s pretty much all I can think when I look at that picture.
Fluffernutter Puppy Chow hits all the bases for the perfect snack food: it’s crunchy, sweet, a little salty, peanut-buttery, and marshmallowy. The batter works out to be very thick, and while that means that not every piece of puppy chow will be a perfect chex-sized snack, it also means that the “ugly” pieces have an extra chunk of fluffernutter goodness attached. Which is totally fine with me.
You only see the “pretty” pieces in these photos because I had already eaten all the ugly ones behind the scenes.
And another, final perk? When I was finished with this recipe there were a lot of small crumbs at the bottom of the bowl, like pieces of fluffernutter batter that had crumbled off and balled up in the powdered sugar. I saved them and plan on using them for cookie or cupcake topping – that is, if I actually bake any more this week. My house is already overflowing with sweets thanks to my last few recipes for this blog. We’ll have to see how The Boyfriend and I are faring against “too much of a good thing” by the end of the week. I may just have to go crazy and make a salad to to spice things up.
More puppy chow recipes
Other peanut butter recipes
Recipe Details
Fluffernutter Puppy Chow
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a medium microwave safe bowl, heat white chocolate chips and butter for 1 minute. Remove from microwave, stir, and heat for another 30 seconds. Stir ingredients again until chips have melted and butter is absorbed into the melted white chocolate. Mixture will be a little thick - this is okay.
- Add creamy peanut butter and marshmallow fluff to the bowl with white chocolate, then mix thoroughly. Fluffernutter batter will be thick and oily but should stir freely. If needed, heat bowl in the microwave for another 15-30 seconds to loosen up the batter.
In a large mixing bowl, pour in fluffernutter batter and Chex Mix cereal. Using a spatula, gently fold the cereal into the batter, pulling the batter from the bottom and sides up and over top of the cereal. Continue to stir until pieces of cereal begin to break off on their own (be patient, it will happen!)
Pour powdered sugar in the mixing bowl and use a spatula to stir and coat cereal. Use the thin edge of the spatula to separate any large clumps of cereal that are not breaking apart on their own. If desired, add more powdered sugar for a sweeter taste.
- Allow fluffernutter puppy chow to cool for 1 hour, then store in an airtight container. Note: There will likely be small fluffernutter crumbles in the bottom of the bowl when finished. You can save these and use them as a candy topping for cakes, cupcakes, popcorn, etc. Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Ok… this is brilliant…and I think it was totally worth your cake fail. 🙂
Fluffernutter puppy chow! That is sweet and happy snacking…yum!
I love peanut butter so much, and this looks like a fantastic use for it. We made sprinkles cake flavored puppy chow for my oldest’s birthday, but this totally speaks to my heart.
I hear you. I was making this awesome angel food cake, and was so proud, but I did not have the correct pan for angel food cake so the cake collapsed under all the weight of the topping. Glad you could come up with another amazing recipe!
So happy to see a fluffernutter recipe! We are fluffernutter addicts! The mix of mallow and peanut butter is just pure perfection. Seriously. We have a problem. We hope you will soon, too 🙂
I tried making this recipe today and the flavor is nice. Will have to add more butter or something since the whole thing seized up when I tried mixing it with the cereal. It really is sweet enough, even for my terrible sweet tooth, with a lot less powdered sugar. (The last time I made puppy chow, it was something like 2 cups powdered sugar to 9 cups of cereal, so 4 cups sugar to 3 cups cereal is a lot with the sugar in the peanut butter, chips, and fluff already making it sweet.) Thanks for sharing your recipe.
For me, this recipe did not work as well as I had hoped (however still very much edible!!) I am confident that I followed the recipe as stated but had a different outcome than what is shown in pictures and described.
The “batter” was very thick and nearly impossible to coat the chex with. I first tried shaking it in a big bowl with a lid on it (that is what I normally do with puppy chow and have had the best results) but it all clumped into one huge chunk. I then stirred/folded like the recipe said and still had trouble coating the chex semi evenly. I ended up with more little crumbs than full size pieces. I understand the need of 4 cups of powdered sugar that is suppose to coat it to make them not stick together, but it makes it very sweet and like I said before, I ended up with more tiny crumbs. Overall I think the basic taste is wonderful and fluffernutter is a yummy and unique food combo, but I feel like a change in amount of ingredients or maybe different ingredients might make it work out a little smoother.
Hey Delaney! Thank you so much for the feedback 😀 This recipe is indeed a little more tricky to stir than your average puppy chow. Another big difference might be that I typically use homemade marshmallow fluff, which tends to be a little more “watery” (if that’s the right word?) than what typically comes in a tub from the store. I’ll have to try making this again with the store bought marshmallow fluff and see if I can tweak it to work out a bit better.
O my this looks so good! I think I’m going to make this and use the brownie mix to coat instead of powdered sugar. Have you ever tried that?
Love that idea! I’ve made brownie puppy chow before (using the mix) and it was amazing, so I’m sure it’d be a great coating for this as well 😀 There should be enough sweetness in the fluffernutter to carry it 😀