These red, white, & blue muddy buddies (patriotic muddy buddies) are perfect for the 4th of July. Easy- and kids can help- and they look great!

Everyone loves muddy buddies. They’re easy. They taste great. And I can make endless varieties. (Trust me, you can see some on the Puppy Chow & Barks page…and there will be more in the future).

These patriotic muddy buddies are perfect for the 4th of July!

Don’t let the fairly long directions scare you. You’re doing the exact same thing three times in a row (for each color).

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Patriotic muddy buddies- divided by color- in white round dish with sparkle wreath in background.

Notes on Recipe

I’ve actually made this a couple of times- and a couple of ways- and there are some things you might like to know.

The first time I tried to make the colors “pop” by using red jell-o and blue jell-o powder along with powdered sugar. My testers thought it tasted good. I thought it was horrible. I actually had the recipe posted with it optional for years. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was horrible. So I removed that.

I did cheat a tiny bit and used of Powdered Food Dye in with the powdered sugar. But it was very subtle. I think the colors would look almost identical even without it.

I use paramount crystals to thin the candy melts just slightly. You can also use shortening. Or even skip it all together. The muddy buddies will just be a bit thicker and slightly harder to work with.

Patriotic muddy buddies in white oval dish with sparkle wreath in background.

Print Pin

4.75 from 4 votes

Patriotic Muddy Buddies

Red, white, & blue muddy buddies (puppy chow) for the 4th of July.

Ingredients

9 cups Corn or Rice Chex
1 & 1/4 C. white candy melts vanilla
1 & 1/4 C. red candy melts vanilla
1 & 1/4 C. blue candy melts vanilla
1 C. creamy peanut butter
1 Tbsp. Paramount crystals
3 C. powdered sugar
1 C. Red, white, & blue M&M’s
Pop Rocks optional

Instructions

Divide corn chex into 3 bowls, equal amount in each.

White Puppy Chow

In a separate bowl, melt white vanilla wafers, 1/3 cup peanut butter, and 1 tsp. paramount crystals. Microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power. Stir well. Repeat until melted.
Stir chocolate/peanut butter into one of the bowls of chex until they are well coated. You might not use all of the candy melt/peanut butter mixture.
Place 1 C. powdered sugar in a large ziploc bag. Spoon “white” chex into bag. Toss with powdered sugar. Spread out on a cookie sheet to dry.

Red Puppy Chow

In a separate bowl, melt red vanilla wafers, 1/3 cup peanut butter, and 1 tsp. paramount crystals. Microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power. Stir well. Repeat until melted.
Stir chocolate/peanut butter into one of the bowls of chex until they are well coated. You might not use all of the candy melt/peanut butter mixture.
Place 1 cup powdered sugar in a large ziploc bag. Spoon “red” chex into bag. Toss with powdered sugar. You're going to gently toss and mix until all the powdered sugar is absorbed and the muddy buddies red color is really showing through. Spread out on a cookie sheet to dry.

Blue Puppy Chow

In a separate bowl, melt blue vanilla wafers, 1/3 cup peanut butter, and 1 tsp. paramount crystals. Microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power. Stir well. Repeat until melted.
Stir chocolate/peanut butter into one of the bowls of chex until they are well coated. You might not use all of the candy melt/peanut butter mixture.
Place 1 cup powdered sugar in a large ziploc bag. You're going to gently toss and mix until all the powdered sugar is absorbed and the muddy buddies blue color is really showing through. Spoon “blue” chex into bag. Toss with powdered sugar. Spread out on a cookie sheet to dry.

Final Preparation

After dried, toss three colors together with M&M’s. If you want the muddy buddies to literally “pop” when eaten, also toss with some pop rocks.

Conclusion

I hoped you liked these patriotic muddy buddies. Is there a version of muddy buddies you would like to see in the future? If so, comment below letting me know. I would love to develop them.

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