We've exercised our inner scientist muscles while experimenting, there have been 2 field trips, and we've gotten our creative juices flowing with an art project. I felt it was time for the O.K. Club to whip up something delicious in the kitchen. Many of the kids have expressed interest in cooking so after thinking long and hard about a recipe that would not only be delicious but that would also be easy enough for them to make at home (bonus for you, parents), I decided on puppy chow, or muddy buddies, as it is also known.

If you are unfamiliar with puppy chow, it is a mouth- watering combination of chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. How can you go wrong? You simply can not. The kids felt the same way and were eagerly anticipating our cooking lesson. While I knew the level of excitement was high due to the fact that they were finally getting to attempt a recipe, I knew they were amped about getting to indulge in this special treat as well.

We had 3 stations set up on one of our cafeteria tables. The first station was in charge of measuring and melting the chocolate and peanut butter in the microwave, the second station combined the melted peanut butter/chocolate mixture with the rice Chex cereal, and the third station tossed the cereal with the powdered sugar. It was simple, fun, a little messy, and we all had splashes of powdered sugar on our faces but… we loved every minute.

Puppy Chow/Muddy Buddies

9 cups Rice Chex cereal (instead of measuring out 9 cups, you can just use all but ¼ of a large box-you need close to an entire box so leave a little to spare)

½ cup peanut butter (stick to smooth and creamy peanut butter-don't go with crunchy)

 1 cup milk chocolate chips (the original recipe calls for semi-sweet but I like milk chocolate better for this recipe)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ cups of confectioners' sugar

~Begin by placing the chocolate chips in a glass bowl and microwaving them for about a minute and a half. It's important to remember to use the microwave carefully and melt the chips in 20 second increments. After each 20-25 second interval, stir the chocolate before placing it back in the microwave to continue the melting process.

~Once the chocolate is fully melted (you want it to be silky and easy to stir) add the peanut butter to the chocolate. Stir the mixture to fully combine. We put the chocolate-peanut butter combo back into the microwave for an additional 10 seconds to make the peanut butter a little softer.

~Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the chocolate/peanut butter mixture and stir to combine.

~Toss the mixture with the 9 cups of cereal.  We used a large punch bowl and a spatula to make sure the cereal was evenly coated with the chocolate mixture.

~ Using a gallon sized Ziploc bag, take the cup and half of confectioners' sugar and pour it into the bag. Using a large spoon, scoop the cereal into the bag. Once the bag is about ¾ full, make sure the plastic bag is securely closed and start shaking the bag in order to coat the cereal in the powdered sugar.

~Serve and enjoy!

**You can also store the puppy chow in the fridge for a few hours so it's nice and cold. It gets even better the colder it is.

The saying "too many cooks in the kitchen" doesn't apply to us...

...and the end result: success!