Going through a deployment is like becoming Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Some days I'm super- positive, motivated, strong military wife, driving around town taking care of business, hoo-rah! And some days I get in the car, turn on the radio, hear Rascal Flatts and cry for like 10 minutes. Okay maybe 15. And then I go out into the world and give every happy, hand-holding couple the evil eye. It's not pretty. Today was the latter, angry military wife. I just miss my husband, for realz. It's been 103 days since I said goodbye to him (but who's counting?!) and we have 77 to go. So, today I needed chocolate. I was daydreaming of a red velvet cupcake, mmm! But didn't feel like baking. Since I made the cake batter puppy chow I've been brainstorming different combos of puppy chow, and my red velvet craving just made today's recipe so clear.
Okay, my little sob story aside this stuff is GOOD. It's richer than the cake batter puppy chow, and it really hit the spot. No baking necessary. Who doesn't love that?
UPDATE:
I have had a couple of readers inform me that they have used melted
frosting in place of the melted chocolate with great success. If you
have frosting on hand try heating in the microwave in 15-20 second
intervals (it will melt FAST) until desired consistency and mix with
cereal in place of melted white chocolate. Hope this helps!
Ingredients:
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. cream cheese
2 Tbsp. milk
5 cups rice Chex
1 cup boxed red velvet cake mix
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Step 1: Make a double broiler with a pot filled with an inch or so of water, place a glass bowl that fits inside the pot- but the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. Basically, the steam from the pot is going to slowly, delicately melt the chocolate. Turn the heat to medium.
Step 2: Toss the white chocolate chips in the bowl.
Step 3: Stir, and stir, and stir until the chocolate melts.
Step 4: Turn off the heat and add the cream cheese and milk. Stir until the cream cheese is melted and everything is combined.
Step 5: Stir the chex and the melted chocolate together until the cereal is fully coated.
Step 6: In a separate, smaller bowl whisk together the cake mix and powdered sugar.
Step 7: Transfer cereal to a tupperware container, top with cake mix and close tightly. Shake, shake, shake!
 |
| Me, shaking! |
Enjoy your beautiful sweet treat! Share with friends! It is so good!
If you enjoyed this recipe or any of the others please use the bar on the right hand side of the page to "join this page" Or follow me on Pinterest, Like "Unbearablygood" on Facebook, or subscribe and you can get my recipes straight to your inbox :-D Thanks for stopping by...!
God bless you and your husband for your service to our country.
ReplyDeleteThank you Shelley! I couldn't be prouder of my husband and his service. He is my hero :-D Being a military family isn't always easy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
DeleteI would also like to thank you and your husband for the service to our country. Know he is in our prayers. I know what it is like to be in the service as I grew up an army brat. Never liked Daddy being gone. Again, thank you so very much for your sacrifice for my freedoms.
DeleteI hate to be anonymous, but I am new at this and I don't know how else to get the message posted. My name is Sharlette.
DeleteThank you Sharlette! It is always to hear from other supportive Americans! I appreciate your kind words.
DeleteAre these supposed to have a crunch to them..... Mine turned out kinda soft :-/
ReplyDeleteWhen I first shook mine up they were a little softer than traditional puppy chow but they got crispier as they dried out in the tupperware! Even when they were soft though they tasted great :-D
DeleteThank your Husband for his service..and Thank you for being a strong Wife and Woman!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words :-D 59 days to go... hanging in there!
DeleteI feel your pain, the husbeast and I are this><close to being halfway through an 18 month, 600 mile geobach with the navy. I think I cried about socks or something yesterday. <3
ReplyDeleteGirl my heart is with you. I can't even tell you how many times I've cried over complete nonsense just having crazy all over the place emotions. Military wives are the only ones who understand! Stay strong my friend, you are stronger than most!
DeleteWHOA so crazy, I saw this on pintrest and thought , this would be a great deployment recipe! then i click on it...and you're going through the same thing I am! WOW!
ReplyDeleteAh that is crazy! I'm glad you found me though :-D Puppy chow travels so well in packages in my experience. Hubby usually gets a big tupperware of puppy chow (the cake batter, red velvet, or tradition pb choc) in every care package, it makes him feel like home! Hope it works for you too!
DeleteI am so glad to see other military spouses out there. I thought the same about it being a deployment recipe (We finished our deployment 8 months ago, and might be heading into another). Making it up and giving it to fellow wives in a meltdown I need chocolate kit kinda thing! THANK YOU LADIES for your SACRIFICES as well. Y'all are the ROCKS that keep them going.
ReplyDeleteHooah!(ARMYWIFE)
AH thank you for stopping by Christina! You are so right, this isn't just perfect to send overseas it's also really good for a wifey meltdown (trust me, that's what I originally made it for- myself!:)). I love all the military love stopping by here! Makes me feel not so alone. I hope you are not heading into another deployment :( The not knowing part is almost worst than the actual preparation, we were told "maybe" for months before it was for sure he was headed out for his 2nd time. Be strong, girl and THANK YOU for being a strong Army Wife :-D
DeleteI made some tonight for my 3 kids for snack they loved it rock on
ReplyDeleteThanks for trying it Kirsten! Glad to hear the kiddos love it :):)!
DeleteI tried this with a tub of cream cheese frosting melted and it was fab fab fabulous!
ReplyDeleteOooooh thank you for the review, I've been waiting to hear from someone who used the frosting in place of the chocolate! Sounds delicious :-D
DeleteWhen using the melted cream cheese frosting, did you omit any of the powdered sugar?
DeleteFirst of all thank you to your husband and you for his service!
ReplyDeleteSo quick question. If i use the cream cheese frosting do i still need the cream cheese and milk?? Just checking! Thanks!
Thank you for your kind words:) I personally have never used the frosting in place of the melted chocolate, but as I understand from other readers they have used the melted frosted in place of the melted chocolate, cream cheese, & milk. So I would think you would need just the frosting alone. Hope this helps!
DeleteOHhhh I am def going to make this! And, the cream cheese frosting instead of having to get extra ingredients. Thanks, Girl! I give you a lot of credit and send you hugs for the service both YOU and Your husband are giving to our country. Sending you hugs! ((hugs)) !! Nightingale~
DeleteYour husband's sacrifice is greatly appreciated!!! I grew up as a military brat and remember my father being deployed for 14 months solid. It was extremely rough but I remember it was a great day when my father came back home! so on that note.. Stay Strong and remember you have more support than you truly can imagine!!! Thank your husband for me .. I'm extremely Proud of him and his service to this country!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind words Kris! Being a military family is not easy, but I'm so extremely proud of my husband and the work that he does. :-) And we're down to 48 days left.. so I feel like we're really getting close:)!
DeleteI've never tired anything like this before, but it sounds wonderful!!! Not a fan of white chocolate; can I use regular chocolate chips? And, last, but not least, my undying gratitude to both you and your husband for your service to our country!
ReplyDeleteLinda, I think that regular chocolate chips would be fabulous! However, I am not 100% sure it will keep it's pretty bright red color when it's a darker base. But I definitely think it's worth a try! And thank you for your kind comments :-)I am an incredibly proud military wife each and every day!
Deletearen't you not suppose to give dogs chocolate?
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear, this recipe is NOT for dogs! It is for human consumption only please :-D As a 3 dog owner I would be devastated if anyone actually fed this to their puppy!
DeleteOf the 3 kinds you have made which is the best?
ReplyDeleteHONESTLY, for me- my favorite was the cake batter puppy chow (also on my page). But I am a true cake batter fan. Like forget actually baking a cake, I'll just lick the bowl. But in this case you don't risk salmonella which is pretty awesome. On the other hand my husband is the world's biggest peanut butter & chocolate fan & his hands down favorite is the classic puppy chow, and my brothers who are OBSESSED with red velvet cake prefer the red velvet cake puppy chow. So now that I've officially not helped you, my point was which of the 3 flavors is your personal fave? That's the one I'd go with :-D
DeleteI did this using icing and I think a whole tub of icing is too much. Some of it is really soggy, hoping it will dry some. Great idea though and it is delicious!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Casandra! I haven't tried it with the icing so I can't speak from personal experience but I feel like from the feedback I've gotten the chocolate has worked better. Hopefully yours dries out a bit :-D Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI totally understand what you are going through! I'm a Proud Mom of 2 sons in the USMC and one is deployed... Soon to be coming home any day!!! Also I'm a wife of a police officer of 27 yrs, talk about good day and bad.. Love trying new recipes and so looking forward to making this one for my son when he comes home, he Loves red velet....Thank You, for sharing and God Bless you & yor husband!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words Lori :-) You will have to thank your sons & your husband for their service for me! (In my opinion our very brave police officers do not get thanked NEARLY enough) I hope you make this for your son and he loves it as much as I did :-) Thank you for stopping by!
Deletethis looks amazing.. now I have to try... !!
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty darn good :) Hope you love it!
DeleteHey! I followed the exact recipe you posted, but mine turned out really soggy with no crunch :( Any suggestions? I tried putting it in the fridge, but it didn't really work.
ReplyDeleteOh no I'm sorry to hear that! Mine didn't come out AS crunchy as traditional puppy chow, but it still had a crunch to it. I wonder if you let it dry out a bit?
DeleteWe had the same problem with soggy-ness. I'm going to try the chocolate instead of frosting next time. We just stored ours in the freezer to harden it up a little. Still yummy! Hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteIn all my years of cooking for the husband and kids, I've found that Crispex stays crisper than any of the Chex brand cereals. You might want to try switching and see how it works for you.
ReplyDeleteAn Almost Retired Army Wife and A One Year In Army Mom! (;
Thanks for the tip! And CONGRATULATIONS on your almost retirement & being a mommy :-) I can't wait until we get close to exiting the military life... Love what it's done for us, hate the being apart!
DeleteFirst of all, Thank you for all you and your husband do! Second, this recipient is awesome!!! I a made it with the frosting and it turned out great. I used 6 cups instead of 5 and they are still crisp. I also only used one cup of frosting instead of the whole thing, as well as only about half of the cake mix. So I have plenty left to do a second batch.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the comment! I think maybe that's the key to use less frosting, like I mentioned previously I have not personally used the frosting method so I can't help those who are having issues! Hopefully this will help.. :)
DeleteThank you for the recipe, I just had to try this one! I used 6 cups of Rice Check and a container of cream cheese frosting. I knew that I wanted crunch, so I baked it on a sheet tray at 350 for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. I figured it would be good for a bake sale, and it was a very popular item.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment! I love the idea of baking it, I had not thought of that. Brilliant! :-) Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
DeleteMine turned out really soggy :(
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that! Maybe freezing or baking as other commenters have suggested might help?! :)
DeleteI clicked this off of Pinterest. I, too, am a 27-year old military wife. My husband deploys to Kuwait next month. He loves Red Velvet, which is why I clicked. Small world... :) - Amy C.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by Amy! It is such a small world, I am amazed by how many military wives have stopped by my page! I love it. Sometimes being a military wife feels very isolated, but y'all have all made me feel better about it :) Good luck with your deployment! We are just on the tail-end of ours. Be strong, and keep yourself busy. A great way to do that? COOK! hehe. :):)
DeleteMine was crunchy but it didn't seem as red as you picture. Any ideas what I did wrong?
ReplyDeleteI think the color is probably just based on the brand of red velvet cake mix you use! The duncan Hines brand was super red for me!
DeleteUsed Duncan Hines brand, but its more brown than red. Did you let it sit to allow the color to develop? Wondering if I add another Tablespoon of Milk to moisten it up... I seem to have extra cake/sugar mix in the bottom of the Tupperware. Taste great though!
DeleteWhat a fun recipe! It was my fault, but I put too much frosting, so it's soggy. I should have listened to my instinct not too! lol. Also, like some of the other posters here, I wonder what I did that mine isn't red?
ReplyDeleteJust thought I would give you another quick tip. I mix my puppy chow in a paper bag. Just pour in the cereal, dump whatever "liquid goodness" you are using on top of it, and roll down the top and shake like crazy for about a minute. Then dump cake mix and powdered sugar on top and shake again. I then use a gallon ziploc to store it. It saves messing up a bowl and I have actually used the bag twice to make a double batch.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great tip! I love anything that saves me having to do more dishes... ;) Thanks so much!
DeleteKudos to you for holding down the fort at home, while your husband is protecting our freedoms and safety abroad. Your blog is fantastic to read and the recipes I have "borrowed" are treasured. Bless you and your family.
ReplyDeleteMy mom makes a version of this and spreads it thinly on wax paper and lets it harden on the counter and then breaks it up and puts it back in the tubberware. Might help people who don't want to wait for it to harden in the tubberware. Can't wait to try this one!
ReplyDeleteSo are you basically eating raw cake batter flour? That sounds kind of disgusting to me.
ReplyDeleteI will try this for the holidays. BTW, that is not a Tupperware container that you are using. I know what you're saying though, not trying to be rude! If you'd like to order some Tupperware, check out my website at my2.tupperware.com/pamalford
ReplyDeleteSounds delicious and I am making some for our grandson in Afghanistan. Thank you
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome! I hope he enjoys it as much as my boys did! Thank your grandson for his service for me, and I pray for his safe return soon!
DeleteGirl, hang in there. When I read your blog, I can totally relate. Some days are harder than others, but we do get through it. Thanks for the recipe, can't wait to try it :)
ReplyDelete:) Thanks for the encouragement! It's much easier with kind words like yours!
DeleteI am disappointed that mine didn't turn out red after mixing up. I went right by the recipe.
ReplyDeleteI thank your husband for his service & you for yours! Thanks for the recipe...I kinda used it for a starting point & came up w/pumpkin puppy chow...just in time for Thanksgiving! I just substituted the wht choc w/canned pumpkin, added some pie spice & a little sugar then used a spice cake instead of red velvet! Wow...yummy! I also thought I'd experiment later w strawberry cake mix! Thanks so much! Brandy
ReplyDeleteOh WOW! Pumpkin puppy chow?! Sounds uhhh-mazing! You are genius! Thanks for the great idea I think I may steal it soon ^_^ :) Let me know if you try the strawberry cake, I have had some readers give positive reviews of the strawberry cake mix + white choc chips! Thanks for stopping by Brandy!
DeleteDid the strawberry today since my actual puppies found the pumpkin chow! Very good as well! I have to make the pumpkin again though...it was too good!
ReplyDeleteBrandy
The pumpkin chow gets pretty mushy! I think it's the pumpkin that makes it that way! :-( Will have to figure out another way to get that flavor in there! Perhaps use the wht choc chips instead of the pumpkin & still use the spice cake mix though! Change it to Spice puppy chow?? :-)
ReplyDeleteBrandy
Mine turned out brown instead of red, which was sad, because I was making it as a holiday treat for co-workers. It still tastes wonderful, just isn't the color I wanted!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it came out tasty but I'm sad for the color! Mine was super bright red, but I guess results would differ between brands of cake mix/ choc/ frosting etc.
DeleteIt tastes ok, but I don't know what you took a picture of. It is certinally not red when finished. Also way too much cake mix for that amount of cereal.
ReplyDeleteWell I can assure you that the pictures are of the puppy chow I made, exactly as listed- I'm not sure what else you think I could have pictured? Like I mentioned above, I imagine results would differ between brands- I've just displayed how it came out for ME. Sorry the results were not what you expected...
DeleteHi, I just made this to share with my friends as a holiday treat. How long does it stay good, and what is the best way to store it? Also thanks for the recipe, although mine is not red like some of the other commenters, it is still delicious. Also I wanted to confirm that one of the reviewers suggested Crispex instead of Chex, and I followed that advice and it stayed super crispy.
ReplyDeleteI just made it and came out yummy and pretty :) I used 6 cups of the rice chex and the container of cream cheese frosting. I just want to let everyone using the frosting to know that I put it in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 stirring every couple of minutes and it made the cake batter turn from the brown color it was right after shaking it in the tupperware to bright red since the oven heated the frosting a little more :) I just want to suggest to anyone who doesn't venture red color from the cake mix to put it on a baking sheet and pop it in the oven and you'll get the red color your wanting :) thank you for posting this recipe!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the tips! Glad you enjoyed it :-)!
DeleteI meant get the red color not venture lol still getting used to typing on my kindle :)
ReplyDeleteI also want to thank you for the recipe and your family's service to our country. I made your recipe using the frosting method. One box of Rice Chex with 1 can of melted cream cheese frosting and 1/2 box of Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix. I put mine in a 250 degree oven for about 1 hour or so stirring occasionally (I was afraid of the higher temp others have suggested)until it was as crisp as I wanted. My first batch was brown, but my 2nd and 3rd batch were red even though I didn't change a thing. Just never know, but nonetheless, we love your recipe.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback! So glad you enjoyed it :):)!
DeleteI just made this to take to my cousin's house. I stuck with your original recipe. It's delicious! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou are so welcome! So glad you liked it!
DeleteI found this off of pinterest and I am SO glad I did!! What an incredible woman you are, and I so admire you! Thank you to your husband for his bravery and courage defending our country, and thank you to you, because being home when your loved one is deployed is harder than most people think, and it is a huge sacrifice for you, too! <3
ReplyDeleteAww thank you Noelle for your kind words! It means so much to hear that.
DeleteYou are more than welcome. We are praying for you and supporting you! My brother was deployed twice as a navy medic attached to a marine battery, and I remember that was so difficult. I can't imagine it being a spouse. Love to you!
DeleteThis was pretty good when I first made it, but after it cooled, I stored it in a plastic bag, and it wasn't crunchy anymore :( I wonder if the milk is necessary.
ReplyDeleteMy 9 yr old daughter is having a sleep over ... This was perfect when the girls wanted to "bake". Cheated and melted the icing instead of melting the white Choc chips .
ReplyDeleteWill be great when they are watching a movie .., or after they crash and I have a glass of wine... lol
Thanks !!
Sounds like y'all had so much fun! Puppy chow is always great to make with the kiddos :) Glad y'all enjoyed it!
DeleteSounds like a fun and delicious snack...not fun having a husband away serving our country...the year mine had sea duty was horrible....hope all our military will be home soon...my thoughts and prayers are with you.
ReplyDeleteThis would be a good treat for my daughter's school bake sale next week. Does it turn your fingers red when you eat it?
ReplyDeleteHow did your get yours so red ? I made this tonight for Valentine's party and it wasn't red at all
ReplyDeleteI made this and feel like I completely missed a step? My crunch value is good, but it never turned red, and there is TONS of un-used powder mix in the bottom...?
ReplyDeleteCrap. I see what I did wrong. I used too much of the cake mix.
DeleteI used Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake mix. It didn't turn out red at all. Would you specify what brand you use?
ReplyDelete