Coyote Poop | Candied Cheetos®

This recipe for coyote droppings, or coyote poop, was brought to my attention by anykinesnax on Instagram. A delicious snack, it nicely balances the savoriness of Cheetos with the sweetness of its caramel topping. 

And while the name may be off-putting to some, no need to be alarmed: they are called coyote droppings due to their color and shape, NOT because of their taste. 

The process to make them is fairly simple and straightforward. We’ll be taking Cheetos — you know the puffy cheese snacks — and we’ll be enrobing them in a sweet caramel. So think caramel popcorn with a little bite, rather than literal coyote droppings.

Since I was only able to find the snack pack size for my YouTube video, I made a half batch, utilizing both regular Cheetos Puffs and Crunchy Cheetos. 

I adapted Just a Pinch’s recipe for Coyote Droppings which I found needed more caramel coating, and so I adjusted the recipe accordingly.

And even if you don’t have Cheetos where you live, most countries do have similar cheesy puff snacks that you could use instead. 

Coyote Droppings

Cheesy poofs coated in a crunchy butterscotch candy.

4.17 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Calories 432 kcal

Equipment

• oven
• saucepan

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 bag Cheetos® puffs or crunchy-style 8 oz.
• 1 C. butter 2 sticks
• 4 tbsp. corn syrup
• 2 C. brown sugar packed
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 250˚F/120˚C.

Caramel coating

• In a non-stick skillet or saucepan, melt the butter.
• Empty the bag of cheese puffs into a very large bowl or stock pot.
• To the melted butter, add the corn syrup and brown sugar. Stir to combine.
• Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Line a half-sheet rimmed baking pan with parchment paper.
• Remove from heat and sprinkle in the baking soda. Stir to incorporate.
• Pour the caramel over the cheese puffs and quickly toss to coat.

Baking the puffs

• Transfer the coated puffs to the prepared baking pan.
• Bake for 1 hour stirring the puffs every 15 minutes.
• Pour the baked puffs onto a waxed paper covered countertop and allow to cool completely before serving. Store in an air-tight container.

Notes

I adapted Just a Pinch’s recipe: https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/snack/other-snack/coyote-droppings-caramelized-cheetos.html

Nutrition

Calories: 432kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 2gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 292mgPotassium: 113mgFiber: 1gSugar: 42gVitamin A: 493IUCalcium: 83mgIron: 1mg

Keyword cheese puffs, cheese snacks, Cheetos, coyote droppings, coyote poop

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