Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Funfetti Cake Batter Puppy Chow



Oh dear sprinkles.

Today I'm bringing you a no-bake treat that may presumably be my favorite treat I've made these past couple months. Of course, that 3-layer cake I made last week was delightful and certainly made me proud, but this puppy chow recipe was so easy and delicious. Nothing complicated involved. Win-win. 


I went on a very tiring and rather dangerous hike yesterday. Five total hours of consistent climbing, slippery rocks, and creeks was enough to wear me out. Boy, if I had a choice, I'd much rather be eating puppy chow than hiking. But I guess hiking yesterday and eating puppy chow today makes me feel not as bad about the calories. So maybe that's okay.


This puppy chow recipe, unlike many others, does NOT involve powdered sugar. The original recipe, which can be found here, involved funfetti cake mix and powdered sugar. 

But here's why I did not include any powdered sugar in my puppy chow:
1) I didn't want it overly sweet.

….and….drumroll please…..
2) I didn't have any.

Yep, the reigning queen of disorganization failed to find powdered sugar in her cupboard. (And by the way, the reigning queen of disorganization is me, as if you needed any more proof…..) I didn't think it was going to be a problem, though, because I really didn't want my puppy chow to come out super sweet and I thought the funfetti cake mix would be enough powder to coat the Chex. 


To make this puppy chow, you simply have to melt your candy melts (or white chocolate), stir it into the Chex cereal, carefully toss that around, throw in some funfetti cake mix, and the last, and highly recommended ingredient, sprinkles. I mean, come on, we all know the tiny sprinkles in funfetti cake mix isn't enough to make this puppy chow worthy of being called funfetti. I lost count of how much extra sprinkles I put in, but I'd say it was somewhere between 1/3-1/2 cup.


Because I'm bringing this to a movie party tomorrow, I only tasted a little bit of it, but oh my goodness, it was SO good. It wasn't overly sweet as I had anticipated it to be, but rather subtly sweet with a strong cake batter kick to it. I tasted even better than the puppy chow in my dreams. Just powdery, sugary, cake battery heaven.


I did modify the original recipe a bit, so I'll leave you with my take on the recipe. I swear, this is THE most amazing thing on earth. Literally. Believe it or not, before I tucked the puppy chow away into an airtight container for transporting tomorrow, I said goodbye to it and whispered, "See you tomorrow." Ah, the feels.


The recipe is below if you want it (I'm sure you would). Go spare yourself a couple minutes and whip this up, then sit in front of your computer/TV and watch something fun. Which is exactly what I'm going to do right now. I think my soul is longing for a little bit of Glee.
  

Happy baking!
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Funfetti Cake Batter Puppy Chow
Yields about 5 cups of coated cereal

Ingredients:
5 cups Rice Chex (or any type of Chex)
10 ounces white candy melts/white chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups funfetti cake mix (or substitute with white cake mix and add in additional sprinkles)
Extra sprinkles, optional but highly recommended

Directions:
1. Measure out the Chex and place into a large bowl. Set aside.
2. Melt the candy melts and vegetable oil according to package instructions. Stir to melt.
3. Pour the candy melts into the bowl with the cereal and VERY CAREFULLY toss it together to coat.
4. Add the cake mix, and stir CAREFULLY so the cereal is evenly coated.
5. Throw in the extra sprinkles if using, stirring gently to disperse. Enjoy!