Mmm Monday - MONKEY MUNCH!!!

Okay, this recipe isn't really an original. I learned about it from the TLC show Jon & Kate plus 8. I'm not positive if this is the same recipe that they use because I never had a pen/paper ready when that re-run comes on, but it's close enough IMHO.

Ingredients
9 cups chex cereal (or any other type that your heart desires - experiment!)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup butter/margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1½ cups powdered sugar
A ziplock bag (optional, see below)
1 microwaveable container (optional, see below)
1 airtight container

1. Place chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter into microwavable bowl.
2. Stir together. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Continue to stir/microwave in 30 second increments until smooth.
3. Stir in vanilla.
4. Pour over cereal while stirring.
5. Add powdered sugar and give it a GOOD shake.
6. Spread monkey munch on wax paper to cool/dry.

Now, the recipe recommends using a ziplock bag for the shaking but ultimately storing in an airtight container. The first time we made this, my dear husband skipped a couple of steps and did everything in an airtight microwavable container. Surprisingly, this skipping of steps actually worked, and saved us a lot of mess and unnecessary cleaning. What you really need is just 1 airtight microwavable container. Instead of pouring your mix over the cereal, pour the cereal into the mix. Then just slap on the lid and give it a good shake.

I'm not convinced that the drying on wax paper is necessary. We experimented once without the drying, and the next time we followed the directions and dried the munch. As far as we can tell, no difference - you'll still end up with clumps of chocolate on some of them.

I love this recipe because it is a VERY yummy snack that takes me all of 5 minutes to make and lasts around a couple of days, depending on our munchiness. Probably not all that nutritious, but it gets rid of our cereal fast, which is always a problem in this house. It's also great to experiment with - next time we're going to use rice crispes, and instead of adding so much peanut butter and chocolate chips, we're going to use nutella instead. You just can't go wrong messing with this recipe!