Cereal Cake

Last night we made a recipe that I grew up calling "muddy buddies" or "puppy chow". Basically you take Rice or Corn Chex (or in our case the generic form of either) cover it in melted chocolate and peanut butter and cover that with powdered sugar. Tink was helping me make it and as we were melting the chocolate and peanut butter on the stove she got really excited and said "CAKE!!". I had to laugh because we hardly ever make cake, if we make anything it is usually brownies. Anyways, I told her it wasn't cake it was just chocolate. Then I brought the cereal over and started pouring the chocolate over the cereal. Again she became excited and exclaimed "Cereal Cake!!!!" We loved hearing her excitement and thought that was a great name for this recipe and so now we call it Cereal Cake. We all loved making the recipe and especially the memory that was made with it. For those of you who would like to try your own "cereal cake" here is the recipe as found on the back of the Kroger brand Corn Bitz:

8 cups Rice or Corn Bitz, or combination of the two

1/3 cup peanuts (we used pretzel sticks broken in half)

1/4 cup raisins, optional

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup peanut butter

1-1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

In large bowl, combine cereal, peanuts, and raisins; set aside. You can melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter together either in the microwave or on the stove.

Microwave version: In small microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and peanut butter. Microwave on HIGH 1 to 1-1/2 minutes or until smooth, stirring after 1 minute.

Stovetop version: In small saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate chips and peanut butter until smooth, stirring often. Remove from heat.

Pour chocolate mixture over cereal mixture; stir until all pieces are evenly coated. Pour powdered sugar into large resealable plastic bag; add cereal mixture. Seal securely and shake until all pieces are well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in air tight container. Makes about 9 cups.