Makin' White Squares

As you've probably noticed throughout the football season I've made desserts quite often for LSU games. So with the BCS National Title game this past Monday I knew I wanted to make something then as well. Although making desserts didn't quite help the game go out way... but I guess that's all that needs to be said about that.

Back to desserts. I wanted to do something fairly easy. And I knew I'd have to make it on Sunday since the game was Monday night. So I decided to make white squares. You've probably heard it called puppy chow or muddie buddies or trash or monkey munch. Obviously it goes by several different names, but I decided to bring half to work where a co-worker officially named it "white squares." It's not something my mom ever made growing up. But I do remember other moms making it, and loving it, although I had no idea how to really make it.

I decided to follow this recipe, mainly because I liked that it added vanilla, which is something I hadn't seen anywhere else. Although I did make at least one change. It's surprisingly a simple recipe, but just in case you need a step by step guide...

Ingredients
9 cups (1 box) Chex (I actually wound up using an organic version, so anything similar works
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar (The original recipe called for 1 1/2. Obviously, I upped it.)

Directions
Place cereal in a large bowl and set aside.
In a medium microwavable bowl, add chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter.
Microwave on High for 1 minute and stir. Microwave 30 seconds longer and stir mixture until smooth. Stir in vanilla. (I think I could have heated mine a little bit longer. Once I started added it to the cereal I didn't think it would be enough. But it wound up working perfectly, so maybe I'm just over thinking)
Pour sauce over cereal and stir until evenly coated. (I wound up having a hard time stirring it with a spoon, so basically mixed it with my hands getting them all nice and chocolate-y)
Add half of the mixture into a large plastic bag. Add half of the powdered sugar. Shake to coat. Repeat with second half. I completely forgot to pick up large ziplock, but wound up adding it back into the cereal bag which worked fine. I didn't quite split the cereal in half, which just meant some was more coated than other.)
Spread on waxed/parchment paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.
It really is SO easy to make. And more than that it's additively delicious.

Did you enjoy white square growing up? If so, what did you call them?