Cranberry Bliss Puppy Chow

Dried cranberries, white chocolate, crystallized ginger and orange flavors give this a winter holiday flavor blast. Addictive and easy to eat by the handful, you can call it puppy chow, muddy buddies, whatever you want – because no matter what, it's delicious!

I have a small addiction to all things “cranberry bliss”: cranberry bliss bars, cranberry bliss fudge, cranberry bliss cupcakes, cranberry bliss pinwheels. It's just at the holidays where I need to cram all the cranberry blissy goodness into two months time. I don't have a problem.

I SAID I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM, OKAY.

This is most definitely the easiest recipe I have on the site that emulates the flavor of Starbucks' famous holiday treat. You only need 20 minutes before you can dive in and accidentally on purpose eat it all.

P.S.: I make so many cranberry recipes over the holidays, I find it worth it to buy dried cranberries in bulk. Same goes for white chocolate, and my personal favorite is Ghirardelli white chocolate chips (aff link). Highly recommend.

Ingredients for cranberry bliss puppy chow

• 9 cups Chex, Corn, Rice, or both
• 12 ounces white candy melts
• ½ teaspoon orange extract
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup crystallized ginger pieces, chopped
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon dried orange peel, optional

How to make cranberry bliss puppy chow

1. Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Melt white chocolate candy melts according to package directions (typically meaning to microwave at 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring after each until smooth).
3. Add orange extract and ground cinnamon, stir to combine.
4. Pour Chex into a large bowl and pour in your melted white chocolate mixture. Carefully stir and/or toss to combine and thoroughly coat.
5. Add powdered sugar and stir/toss to combine and coat.
6. Pour onto one of the prepared baking sheets and let set for at least 15 minutes.
7. In a large bowl, combine prepared Chex mixture with cranberries, ginger, white chocolate chips and orange peel (if using). Stir and/or toss to combine.
8. Store in an airtight container until ready to serve. Enjoy!

How this is different from traditional puppy chow

Unlike traditional puppy chow, there's no peanut butter or chocolate present – just white chocolate to coat the Chex mix pieces, and then coated in powdered sugar.

However, the white chocolate gets the addition of orange extract and ground cinnamon to ensure it's sticking to every piece. 

You're going to want the biggest bowl you can find, because it gets more and more challenging as you add ingredients. If you watch the video in this post, you'll notice that I most definitely need a bigger boat. I mean, bowl.

Maybe I should add that to the wedding registry. Of which, according to my little countdown calendar thing on my phone we only have 91 days until the wedding. Sweetbabyjesus, it's comin' up quick.

But you know what? I'm not nervous about it at all. There's no stress, no nerves, no worries. I'm just excited, because we're treating this like a big party with a bunch of our favorite people.

Speaking of parties, bring this to the next one on your calendar and watch how quickly you become everyone's best friend. 

Fair warning: You'll then be asked to bring this to every party you attend from here on out. It's a delicious burden to bear. 

Cranberry Bliss Puppy Chow

5 from 10 votes

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Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Total Time: 20 minutes mins

Servings: 10 cups

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Description

Dried cranberries, white chocolate, crystallized ginger and orange flavors give this a winter holiday flavor blast. Addictive and easy to eat by the handful, you can call it puppy chow, muddy buddies, whatever you want – because no matter what, it's delicious!

Equipment

• Mixing bowls
• High-sided sheet pan
• Parchment paper (precut)

Ingredients

1x2x3x

US CustomaryMetric

• 12 ounces white candy melts
• ½ teaspoon orange extract
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 9 cups Chex cereal, Corn, Rice, or both
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup crystallized ginger pieces, chopped
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon dried orange peel, optional

Instructions

• Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Melt white chocolate candy melts according to package directions (typically meaning to microwave at 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring after each until smooth).
  12 ounces white candy melts
• Add orange extract and ground cinnamon, stir to combine.
  1/2 teaspoon orange extract

  1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pour Chex into a large bowl and pour in your melted white chocolate mixture. Carefully stir and/or toss to combine and thoroughly coat.
  9 cups Chex cereal
• Add powdered sugar and stir/toss to combine and coat.
  1 cup confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
• Pour onto one of the prepared baking sheets and let set for at least 15 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine prepared Chex mixture with cranberries, ginger, white chocolate chips and orange peel (if using). Stir and/or toss to combine.
  1 cup dried cranberries

  1 cup crystallized ginger pieces

  1 cup white chocolate chips

  1 teaspoon dried orange peel
• Store in an airtight container until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Video

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 522kcal | Carbohydrates: 92g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 421mg | Potassium: 159mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 53g | Vitamin A: 6IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition Disclaimer

The provided nutrition information is generated by an automatic API and does not take variations across specific brands into account. This information is provided as a general guideline and should not be treated as official calculations. Learn more here.

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