Tasty Tuesday: Skinny(er) Muddy Buddies

It's been awhile since I shared a recipe with you all.  Between dieting and some Pinterest strike outs, it's been awhile since I've found a good one!  But alas, the day has come.
I don't know about you all, but I have a major sweet tooth that just can't be denied. It usually crops up while the kids are napping.  If I attempt to ignore it, it just grows and grows to the point where I am devouring a bowl of ice cream after dinner (low fat, but still). So instead of ignoring it, my new approach is to quiet it with some small, sweet treat right when it first starts. So I made this skinny version of Muddy Buddies to serve that purpose.
According to the original recipe, this comes in at about 100 calories per 1/2 cup.  I used less cocoa in mine, but didn't bother to run it through a calorie counter because honestly, I'm hoping to not even eat 1/2 cup at a time...just a few pieces here and there (we'll see how long that lasts!).  Either way, this version has to be better for you than the original which usually calls for at least 1/2 cup of butter and a whole lot of powdered sugar!

Skinny(er) Muddy Buddies

• 3 cups Rice Chex cereal (or corn chex)
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Put peanut butter and light corn syrup in microwave-safe bowl and zap for 30 seconds  or until peanut butter is melted.  Stir them together.

2. Stir vanilla extract into peanut butter/corn syrup mixture.

3. Put Chex into large bowl. Pour peanut butter mixture over them and mix until Chex are well covered.

4. Sprinkle cocoa powder over the Chex mix and stir again to well coat.

I wanted mine to have a stronger peanut butter flavor than chocolate, but if you want it to be  more chocolatey, just add more cocoa powder. Either way, it is the perfect, guilt-free fix for a mid-day (or anytime) sweet craving!