Sure, You Can Make ‘More healthy’ Muddy Buddies With Catalina Crunch Cereal

Calling all individuals who eat cereal coated in a mixture of chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar: Right this moment is the day I discovered that this concoction, which I’ve all the time often called Muddy Buddies (I might by no means get behind the time period “pet chow,” widespread within the Midwest, since I don’t actually need to eat pet food?) can be known as “monkey munch,” “muddy munch,” “reindeer chow,” or “doggy bag” — or, not less than, that’s what Wikipedia appears to consider. Wikipedia additionally calls it “sweet”; IDK about that. Like, why is it sweet and never only a dessert or sugary snack? I’m not shopping for it. However sure, historically, it isn’t the healthiest factor you’ll be able to eat.

As I’ve beforehand talked about within the Eater archive, I’m a Chex Combine fanatic. We’re a Chex household; it was an omnipresent cereal in my childhood cupboards and to this present day, my dad feeds particular person Rice Chex to our 15-year-old canine, Reginald, as a result of he “likes the sound it makes when he crunches on it.” It is a significantly unusual breed of boomer ASMR, I’d agree, however my dad loves it, Reginald loves it, and I respect it.

At my massive age, I ought to in all probability not recurrently be consuming Muddy Buddies, however I’m gonna be actual with you: Alongside Cheddar snack combine, Muddy Buddies are one among my gas-station-snack go-tos. They’re the proper synthesis of crunchy, creamy, candy, and salty, a really elevated snacking expertise. It occurred to me just lately when munching on a bowl of Catalina Crunch’s extraordinarily widespread low-sugar, high-fiber, high-protein cereal that Muddy Buddying ought to be a verb; simply as you’ll be able to Caesar something or French onion something, you’ll be able to take any meals, or actually any cereal, coat it in chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar, and render it Muddy Buddied. I consulted The Universe — aka TikTok — to see if individuals had been making “wholesome” Muddy Buddies out of Catalina Crunch, and certainly, they had been. So I used to be like, hey, I’m going to try this proper now as an train of free will.

Realizing you may want some context for Catalina Crunch, I shall clarify: I bear in mind, albeit a bit vaguely, the primary time I heard about this allegedly superb “wholesome” cereal; I noticed it in a tour of one of many Kardashian/Jenner’s pantries which I used to be in all probability hate-watching but additionally did spark some product intrigue — a damaged clock is correct twice a day, in any case, and typically even the world’s most annoying influencers have good recs. There was additionally rampant hypothesis that Kylie Jenner’s notorious 2018 tweet about lastly having tried cereal with milk was referring to Catalina Crunch. (Anyway, I don’t eat the cereal fairly often however I’ve turn out to be an enormous fan of the model’s Chex-Combine-esque Cheddar snack combine.)

Alongside the strains of the favored Netflix collection Is It Cake?, I made a decision to carry out a house experiment of Does It Muddy Buddy?, with my prediction being that, sure, Catalina Crunch Muddy Buddies in all probability style just about equivalent to conventional Muddy Buddies. Some persons are very delicate to the style of monkfruit and stevia, each of that are in Catalina Crunch cereals (though the model did simply roll out “style enhancements” this spring, and can be instituting a Love Each Chew assure the place you may get a reimburse inside seven days of buying its merchandise for those who’re sad with them for any motive). For the individuals who have a bag of Catalina Crunch, haven’t any plans to return it, and need to add some jazz and pizzazz, Muddy Buddying it could possibly be the answer to having fun with its protein and fiber advantages, albeit at the price of sacrificing its low-sugar or no-sugar standing. Anyway, that’s what I did. Please take pleasure in some imagery I took with my digital digicam from 2010.

Hilary Pollack

Hilary Pollack

Hilary Pollack

Hilary Pollack

The decision: Sure, you can also make higher-protein, higher-fiber Muddy Buddies utilizing Catalina Crunch. One thing I actually take pleasure in about Muddy Buddies is that if you’re making them (it?) at house, you’ll be able to actually function totally intuitively when it comes to the quantity of every ingredient so as to add. Positive, there are some frequent tips, however for those who use kind of chocolate or peanut butter, what’s the worst that may occur? It’s just about assured to style good.

That being stated, right here’s the recipe (utilizing that time period loosely):

Components

The “recipe”

Add the butter, chocolate chips, and peanut butter to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on excessive for about 45 seconds. Use a spoon to stir till easy. Add the vanilla extract. Utilizing a spatula, add the cereal and blend to coat it utterly within the chocolate combination. Dump a bunch of the now-chocolaty cereal in a sealable plastic bag (, like a Ziplock). Dump a bunch of powdered sugar on prime and shake profusely till the entire little cereal items are coated in a good looking dusting of sugar. Ta-da!

Hilary Pollack

In case you are an actual sugar-hater (or can’t have it for well being causes), it’s also possible to observe the lead of TikTokers who’re making Muddy Buddies utilizing Catalina Crunch, sugar-free chocolate, and powdered monkfruit. I cannot be doing this as a result of I like issues to style pretty much as good as potential, however the level is, you possibly can.

Take pleasure in your free will! I actually do.

Catalina Crunch cereal is offered at Catalina Crunch.