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Cranberry Bliss Puppy Chow

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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!

Cranberry Bliss Puppy Chow

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.

Cranberry Bliss Puppy Chow

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!
Cranberry Bliss Puppy Chow

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.

Cranberry Bliss Puppy Chow

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

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Cranberry Bliss Puppy Chow

5 from 10 votes
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!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 10 cups

Ingredients
 

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 (340 ⅕ g) white candy melts
  • Add orange extract and ground cinnamon, stir to combine.
    1/2 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) orange extract
    1/8 teaspoon (⅛ 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 (522 g) Chex cereal
  • Add powdered sugar and stir/toss to combine and coat.
    1 cup (120 g) 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 (121 ⅕ g) dried cranberries
    1 cup (140 g) crystallized ginger pieces
    1 cup (180 g) 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.

Recipe created by Leslie Kiszka

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14 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This sounds so festive and so fun. My kiddo loves to snack and I bet he will be thrilled when I make him this. I’m saving this recipe to try. Beautiful mix of flavors. I love it.

  2. I’m so intrigued by the crystallized ginger in there! I’ve never had a cranberry bliss bar (I don’t drink coffee, so I never bother to go to Starbucks) — is ginger a prominent flavor in “cranberry bliss”? It sounds so good!

  3. 5 stars
    A great snack for the holidays for sure! I love the crystallized ginger pieces that you added on top of the cranberries and white chocolate chips.

  4. What a FUN recipe! My kids will be all over this! And that orange peel addition….YES! Love a good festive snack mix during the holidays!

  5. 5 stars
    I love all of the fall flavors in this, especially the white chocolate and cranberries. I am saving this for our company Christmas party, perfect way to feed a crowd. Congrats on the wedding!! So happy for you:)

  6. 5 stars
    Cranberry bliss anything already sound so festive and wintery. I know my kids will eat this poppy chow like no one else:)

  7. Puppy chow! My daughter used to make this all the time when she was in elementary school. It was the perfect treat to bring to her classmates. While I secretly snuck away handfuls of the delicious stuff. The addition of cranberries is interesting, a tangy twist on a super sweet treat.

  8. 5 stars
    I never really understood the appeal of puppy chow until I had I actually ate some! Talk about yum!! You cranberry bliss version looks so delicious with the cranberry, ginger and orange!!

  9. 5 stars
    HAHA I was at Starbucks the other day and almost got a Cranberry Bliss bar. This sounds like a great plan for movie night. Perfect for watching all the holiday movies.