Cake Batter Puppy Chow
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Call it funfetti puppy chow, call it birthday cake puppy chow– this is the crunchy, cake-battery take on the classic Puppy Chow you want for your next celebration! You can also find this recipe on page 9 of my cookbook, The Chow Down.
If you don’t love sprinkles, get out now. Just kidding. But seriously, if you don’t love sprinkles… Check your pulse! Sprinkles just make life better, no matter what form they’re in.
Being a baker, I have an entire storage container for my jars and jars of different types of sprinkles, and Matt and I have been known to pour them into the palms of our hands and just have at it.
Simply scrumptious.
So you’re here because you want to know more about this cake battery, sprinkley, sugary concoction. Read on, my friend. You are moments away from amazingness.
I will warn you now about two things: one– this is a VERY sweet treat. And two– you’re going to have to have some self control here. I found it very hard to stop eating.
I took it into work and the consensus was the same: hooked. Also, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have a few pieces at 4:45am on my way to spin class (whoops).
This recipe is so easy that you’re going to wonder why you’ve never made it before. And then once you make it, you might love me or hate me. I’ll take both as a compliment.
If you’re not familiar with puppy chow, let’s catch those of you who have this unfortunate circumstance up to speed.
There are a couple approaches you can take here… One way is with almond bark, which is the candy melts used to make dipped treats, pictured here:
The other way is white chocolate (either melting wafers or melting bar).
Do not use white chocolate chips. Chips have stabilizers in them that help them keep their shape. They do not melt down nicely to be poured over cereal like wafers or a bar do. I prefer vanilla flavored white melting wafers for this step.
No matter what melting material you use, you’re going to add almond extract. That might sound funny, but hear me out: the introduction of almond really puts the “batter” flavor into play.
If you don’t have almond extract or you can’t find candy melts, fear not: white chocolate alone will be more than sufficient to make this treat taste like cake. Promise! If you’re going the extract route, make sure you read my notes at the bottom of the recipe.
A little butter, some candy coating, a crap ton of sprinkles, powdered sugar, and 15 minutes. That’s all you need before this crunchy cake batter is in your mouth.
Oh, and a zip top bag or container with a lid! Otherwise, things could get really messy!
I used regular rainbow sprinkles in addition to non-pareil rainbow sprinkles. The combination of the two was perfect.
To make this puppy chow, start by melting your almond bark or white chocolate with some butter. The butter is imperative, as it helps bring out the cake batter notes in the flavor of the snack.
If you’re using extract, you’ll want to add it before you start melting everything. Adding it after your candy and butter are melted will cause your candy to seize up, and it will be ruined.
There’s no coming back from seizing! So if you forget, don’t try to add it later.
Melt your candy and butter until everything is just melted. Heating it much longer after that can cause scorching or burning, and those are also impossible to rebound from.
Pour your melted goodness over your Chex, mix it up gently, then shake in your sprinkles and powdered sugar. It really is that simple.
Oh geez, it’s just so delicious. Crunchy cereal with all the goodness of sprinkles and cake batter without the mess of icing and silverware. Perfect!
And also, as I was perusing the tons of recipes featuring this flavor combo, I found out that puppy chow has more flavors than I ever thought possible.
You better believe I will be visiting some of those in the future.
Seriously, this is bad!
So I have one last question for you… Are you melting your candy yet?
Other cake batter/funfetti recipes right this way: funfetti cheesecake, funfetti sheet cake, funfetti brownies, funfetti sugar cookie cake, funfetti white chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and baked funfetti donuts.
Cake Batter Puppy Chow Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 and ½ cups (135g) Rice Chex® cereal
- ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter cut into 8 slices
- 8 ounces (227g) high quality white chocolate1
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup (134g) sprinkles
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Pour the cereal into a large bowl and set aside.4 and ½ cups (135g) Rice Chex® cereal
- In a medium saucepan over low heat2, melt the butter, white chocolate, almond extract3, and vanilla extract3, stirring constantly until completely melted. Remove from heat.¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter, 8 ounces (227g) high quality white chocolate1, 1 teaspoon almond extract, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Immediately pour melted mixture over cereal and stir gently to coat.
- Pour cereal into a large zip-top bag or large container with a tight-fitting lid and add the sprinkles. Shake until all of the sprinkles are dispersed evenly.⅔ cup (134g) sprinkles
- Add the powdered sugar and shake again until everything is coated. Spread onto baking sheet lined with foil or parchment and allow to cool. Discard excess powder. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to one week.1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
Video
Notes
- White chocolate: I cannot stress enough that you should not use white chocolate chips for this recipe. Chocolate chips contain stabilizers that help them keep their shape, so melting them smoothly can be tricky. Because you’re introducing moisture (the extract and the butter) to your melting material, it is already going to be a little less smooth than it would be if you left those ingredients out. My preference for this step is white vanilla melting flavored wafers.
- Low heat: it is very important for you to use low heat here and to keep the mixture moving.
- Extracts: it is imperative that you add extract at the beginning of the melting process. Adding it later will cause the mixture to seize up, and you will be unable to use it.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
Congratulations on the release of your cook book Lynn! This cake batter puppy chow recipe looks so good!!!
Thank you, Jess!
Lynn, your video is absolutely charming! I just want to be in the kitchen baking along with you!
I am so happy for you, CONGRATULATIONS lady on the release of your first (of many, I hope) cookbook. You have worked so hard to make this dream come true so I hope you take a moment today to celebrate and give yourself a big warm hug for reaching your goal. You are an inspiration to me every day!
I can’t wait for my copy to find it’s way over the sea to me so I can start making even more puppy chow 🙂
Thank you so much, Amy!! The post man told me it should be there… Soon… He told me a day, and I forget when it was, but it sounded soon, hahahahaha. I can’t wait for you to get it!! YAY!!
When I made this my butter, white chocolate, vanilla, almond extract mixture almost looked like it was curdled instead of like smooth melted chocolate. Any idea why it would have been like that?
It definitely does not go completely smooth, and if you heat it much longer than it needs to be heated, it will start to get very crumbly. Stop right when everything is melted. It will be thick!
I had a similar problem at first. After noticing that is was starting to get kind of chunky, I took my metal fork and stirred it constantly at a decently fast pace. It took lesss than a minute and it was fixed! You could also try turning the heat up slightly before doing this.
Very disappointed. Mine was curdled looking right from the get go (before everything was even melted) and my butter separated out. Not sure what I did wrong but what a waste.
Hi Erin, I’m sorry to hear that. Was your butter cold when you started or was it soft?
Mine did the same. The butter was cool but not cold. I melted it a bit with the extracts (in a double boiler) and then added the Wilton-style melts (Michael’s has come out with a store brand) and it was curdled and the butter floated on top. I kept stirring and added three more melts, but it doesn’t look great. It tastes good, but not very eye appealing. I am a very experienced cook, my mom and I made hand dipped chocolates, I have made dipped pretzels, but this was not a great success.
Can I leave out the almond extract? My daughter is allergic to tree nuts.
Hi, Maggie– you certainly can. It won’t taste exactly the same, but will still have enough of the “funfetti” effect to make it super tasty!
Do you use white candy chocolate chips for melting or white almond bark or what i went to the store and could only find those 2. Could you post a pic of what you get?
Hi Katie– you can see in the video that it’s bar chocolate. White almond bark works the same. Do not use chocolate chips, as they have stabilizers in them that don’t let them melt as smoothly as bar chocolate or almond bark.
Do you use pure almond and vanilla extract?
Yes!
Very good!
I made these, but I used the long gated sprinkles because they are softer. But they did not stick to the cereal. I bagged a 1/2 cup per party bag. I tossed the sprinkles on top, when I bagged the servings. The sprinkle topping that I used that didn’t stick, resembled dry cake mix/w sprinkles. It still tasted good…but not pretty!
Hey, Rhonda– the sprinkles need to go on while the chocolate is still wet, otherwise they have nothing to stick to!
Hi this looks super yummy! Making it for my twins bday parade this weekend. How long does it keep?
Instructions for storing are in step 5 of the recipe!
🤦🏼♀️ Thanks! Totally missed that!
McCormick makes “cake batter” extract that I found with the vanilla and other extracts. Do you think that would be good?
Oh my goodness, yes! I didn’t know that was a thing! I’ll have to find some 🙂
Do the nonpareils make it super crunchy? Could I use confetti style sprinkles too?
They do add crunch, and yes, confetti style work too!
Guess I had senior moments while reading this recipe several times….how/where does the cake batter flavor/texture, whatever, come about??? Taught high/middle school home ec. for over 20 yers and much to my chagrin, never used puppy chow as a delicious recipe that is simple and yummy. Oh well, perhaps in my next life 🙂 Going to make it for my sister’s vet…Puppy Chow….how appropriate. Haha!!!
Hey, Judy– the butter + almond extract bring the flavor! Enjoy 🙂
I love this recipe!! I make it every year for Christmas now and it’s a huge hit!! Using Christmas colored sprinkles this year to make it more festive. Always watch the video before I make it too.
I love using different colored sprinkles for the holiday! Never a bad time for cake batter puppy chow!
If you use almond bark are you still adding almond extract?
I would probably not!
Man I wish I read the reviews first. This was a bummer of a recipe 🙁 kinda deceiving. I took my white choc off as soon as it was all melted, maybe a little sooner in fear of it clumping and that’s exactly what happened… and it completely clumped and was just a mess. Sad to waste product and now I have to think of a new dessert.
Hi, Dawn– super disappointed the recipe didn’t work for you. I try to share all the pertinent precautions, but it almost always comes down to heating the chocolate too quickly. It should stay smooth if you heat it slowly enough and use LOW temperature.
For a nut allergy, can I eliminate the almond extract for just more vanilla?
Hi, Jane– yes, you can. Enjoy!
Do I need the butter to be room temp or cold?
This is a great question– unless specifically stated otherwise, you can always assume (at least with my recipes!) that it should be cold. If it should be room temperature, it will say that. Hope that helps!
OMG! This was a hit at my nephews birthday party! The almond and vanilla extracts put it over the top, and it smelled heavenly. I doubled the recipe and I added rainbow sprinkles in with the colored nonpareils, it was so festive and came out perfectly! My six year old granddaughter is already asking me to make it again! I’m also thinking this may be nice in small cello bags tied with ribbon to give as little party favors! This recipe is a keeper and one that is definitely on repeat! Thank you Lynn!
I’m so glad you liked it, Kelly! Thank you for your feedback 🙂