homemade snickers bar

I did it - I finally made a candy bar! I've been wanting to do this for awhile, but never got around to it. So while I was home taking care of a sick hubby I put a few hours in the kitchen and whipped up some of these babies. And I have three letters Y-U-M! Okay, it tastes like a Snickers bar, but not just any old Snickers... a rich, smooth and made with love Snickers. I actually pushed my luck (as a first time candy bar-maker) and tried making some gourmet hazelnut, raspberry bars that completely fell apart! That's okay though, I think I was getting a little over-confident thinking I could pull that off :) Everything from the marshmallow fluff nougat to the caramel is homemade. I used Ghirardelli all-natural milk chocolate chips to dip them in, which gave the bars a nice thick layer of chocolate coating. The hardest part of about making these bars is dipping them, everything else is fairly easy - just time consuming. If you're up for the challenge try them! It's definitely fun to hand someone a homemade Snickers ;)  

Homemade Snickers Bars 

Nougat Recipe (I altered this recipe)

1/2 stick butter

1 cup sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

2 tablespoon peanut butter 

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1/2 of the batter marshmallow fluff (follow this recipe) 

Marshmallow Fluff Recipe

Caramel Recipe (from here, but changed a bit) 

1/2 cup butter 

1 cup dark brown sugar 

7 ounces sweetened condensed milk 

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla 

pinch salt

You'll also need 3 bags Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

Large can unsalted roasted peanuts 

Directions: 

1. Make the marshmallow fluff from this recipe. Set aside

2. Line the pan with tin foil and melt a small amount of chocolate to spread on the bottom. This will help when dipping the bars and to remove them from the pan. 

3. Make the nougat... Melt the butter, sugar and evaporated milk. Place on medium heat and bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Boil for about 5 minutes or so and constantly stir the mixture.

4. Remove from heat and add half of the marshmallow batter, 2 tablespoons peanut butter and vanilla. Whip until combined. It won't be as fluffy and you might not see the nougat in the candy bar, but it definitely adds flavor!

5. Pour the nougat in the pan to coat the bottom. Refrigerate until the caramel is done.

6. Next, make the caramel! Melt butter, sugar, corn syrup, salt and sweetened condensed milk and bring to a boil on medium heat. Stir constantly and boil the caramel until a candy thermometer reaches 230-240 degrees. Then boil for two minutes at that heat. Remove from heat and add the vanilla bean paste and 2-3 cups peanuts.

7. Remove pan from refrigerator and pour the caramel/peanut sauce on top of the nougat. Spread evenly. 

8. Refrigerate or freeze for about 2 hours... You want the bars to be cold when you cut and dip them.

9. Cut the bars to your desirable size. Place parchment paper down to set the bars on. Melt a bag of chocolate chips over a double broiler. You can start with one bag and then see how many you'll need. Dip the bars using a fork and a rubber spatula to help coat them in chocolate. This part is not easy, so be patient with the first two :) 

10. Let the chocolate harden for an hour and then you can transfer them to the refrigerator to cool even more.