Place a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add to the saucepan the chocolate chips, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla, and melt together, stirring until smooth. OR you can combine the above in a microwave-safe bowl and heat 45 seconds at a time, stopping to stir, and then continuing to melt until completely smooth.

Once the chocolate/peanut butter mixture is melted and fully combined, use a heat-safe rubber spatula and transfer into the large bowl.

Add all the cereal and stir gently with the large wooden spoon until cereal is fully coated.

Set aside the cereal mixture to cool, about five minutes. 

Note: You are about to divide the cooled cereal mixture between the two large zipper bags to help with tossing and coating the cereal mixture in powdered sugar. Divide the cereal mixture in half, adding each half to the large zipper bags, then add ¾ cup of powdered sugar to each bag. You should have two zipper bags in front of you with the cereal mixture and the powdered sugar in each.

Seal the bags tightly since you are about to shake and turn the bags, and you don’t want the contents to come flying out while shaking the bags.

Divide and add the toppings to the bags and gently turn, toss, and shake the bags to coat the Valentine Puppy Chow. The inside of the bag will look smeary, but it will be fully coated when you can’t see any loose powdered sugar. If you will be gifting your chow, you may want to gently transfer a cup at a time to smaller plastic gift bags and tie them off with ribbon. 

Transfer the Puppy Chow mixture into a large serving bowl and enjoy! 

Storage note: Keep this snack cool and out of direct sunlight. You can also divide these into smaller baggies for portion control or gift-giving and keep in the fridge. Move to countertop and gently massage bags before serving any leftover Valentine Puppy Chow.