So the store bought Snickers bars will always have a place in my heart, but I have to admit, they cannot even remotely compare to this handmade recipe from how sweet it is.
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| Drooool! |
This recipe is AMAZING!!! Hands down the best candy recipe I've ever made. It has four layers, each of which is easy to pull together, but because each layer has to cool down in between, it can take a bit of time where you're just waiting. With bated breath! In addition, I have to admit, some of the layers involve dealing with sticky and messy ingredients. Not always fun for me to deal with but perfect for Crazy Little Kid hands!
So first, I melted milk chocolate chips with some peanut butter, and while I was doing that, the Crazy Little Kids unwrapped all the caramels (First step that I can't stand doing...unwrapping a billion caramels! But my two crazy kids love it!).
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| Unwrapping caramels...perfect for little hands! |
I greased a 9 by 11 pan with cooking spray. I always use an aluminum throw away one, since it's easier to get the bars out of the pan when they're done. Then I poured the chocolate in the pan and the entire thing went into the fridge to cool down.
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| Melted chocolate! |
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| Time to cool off! |
While the chocolate was cooling off, we worked on the nougat layer. This is the only layer that requires cooking, and it's also the stickiest layer. It involves measuring out marshmallow FLUFF, which is, in my opinion, one of the stickiest materials ever created! I hate measuring it, but CLB always handles the challenge beautifully!
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| CLB can do the sticky work! |
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| Fluff, what a mess! |
While he measured the fluff out, CLG and I gathered the rest of the ingredients for the nougat...butter, sugar, evaporated milk, peanut butter, vanilla and peanuts. Seriously, get everything measured and ready to go before starting to cook it. It goes fast and it's nice to have everything together in advance. Oh, and for the peanuts! I put them on a piece of wax paper and chopped them up a bit. The wax paper helped out later, and I just like smaller bits of peanuts in my bars.
For the next part, I sent the kids out of the kitchen. It involves heating up sugar and fluff, and it goes fast, so it's just better if they're not in there. I melted the butter, and then added the sugar and evaporated milk.
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| Just about to boil |
I brought that to a boil, and then let it bubble away for a little less than five minutes...just enough to get all the sugar melted completely and for it to change color just a bit. Watch it here, though...don't burn it! After it boiled a bit and changed color, I added the fluff, peanut butter and vanilla to the mix and stirred it up. Again, work quickly so it doesn't burn!
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| Mmmm, boil boil yum! |
I took it off the heat and added the chopped peanuts.
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| Chopped peanuts on waxed paper... |
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| ...slide easily into the pot! See, I told you that wax paper would come in handy! |
I mixed in the peanuts, and then poured the entire lovely concoction into the pan on top of the cooled chocolate.
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| YUM!! |
It was spread about and then back into the fridge the pan went to cool down before going on to the next layer!
The caramel layer is really easy (once all those caramels are unwrapped!). I just melted them with some heavy cream over low heat. Once the mixture was nice and silky and smooth, over the cooled nougat layer it went!
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| Caramel and Cream! |
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| The Crazy Kids just needed to take a peek. I was right there with them while the heat was on the stove! If Hansel and Gretal taught us anything, it's never leave kids alone when they're near a stove! |
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| Oooh, such wonderful stickiness! |
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| CLB couldn't stand waiting for these snicker bars! I held them both off with chocolate chips and tastes of fluff! |
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| Seriously, how could you not make these! Look at that! |
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| I'll say it again...DROOL!! |
Once the bars were cooled off, I removed them from the pan and cut them into bars of yummy goodness.
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| See what I mean about the pan! I think it would be tough getting this out in one chuck without using a disposable aluminum pan. |
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| And there it is! |
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| You get a lot of bars from this recipe! |
This makes a lot of snicker bars, and I'm not sure if cutting the recipe in half would work out as well because of the timing with the nougat layer. I usually try to make sure to whip them up when I know there'll be plenty of people to give them, too. But, on the other hand, the Crazy Kids and I agree that there's nothing wrong with scarfing these babies up all on our own!
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| Fabulous! |
Recipe
Homemade Snicker Bars
slightly adapted from how sweet it is
Ingredients
For bottom layer
1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips NOTE: I often use a bit more than this to get a thicker chocolate coat.
1/4 cup peanut butter NOTE: If you use extra chocolate chips, just add a tad more peanut butter.
For nougat
1/4 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk NOTE: I have used cream for this, and it works out fine, but the evaporated milk gives it a better texture.
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups unsalted roasted peanuts, lightly chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
For caramel layer
1 14 ounce bag of wrapped caramels
1/4 cup heavy cream
For top layer
1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips (See NOTE from top layer)
1/4 cup peanut butter (See NOTE from top layer)
Directions
Spray a 9x13 disposable aluminum pan with cooking spray. Put the ingredients for the bottom layer into a glass bowl and microwave for about 45 seconds. Mix until all the chips are melted and peanut butter is thoroughly combined with the chocolate. Pour and spread it into the prepared pan and set the pan in the refrigerator until completely the chocolate is completely cooled and solid.
To form the nougat layer, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the sugar and evaporated milk and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Let the mixture boil for about 5 minutes, until it changes to a light tan shade, again, stirring frequently (NOTE, depending on your stove, you may need to adjust the cooking time for this). Do not let the mixture burn! Once the mixture has changed color and the sugar is completely dissolved, add the fluff, peanut butter and vanilla. Stir this all together, and then take the mixture off the heat. Add the chopped peanuts, and then pour and spread it over the chocolate layer and set the pan back in the refrigerator until completely cooled.
To form the caramel layer, melt the unwrapped caramels with the cream over low-medium heat. Once the caramels are completely melted and the mixture is smooth and silky, pour and spread it over the nougat layer and set the pan back into the refrigerator until completely cooled.
To form the top layer, again put the ingredients for the top layer into a glass bowl and microwave fro about 45 seconds. Mix until all the chips are melted and the peanut butter is thoroughly combined with the chocolate. Pour and spread it over the caramel layer and set the pan back into the refrigerator until completely cooled.
Once the candy is cooled completely, turn it out of the pan onto a cutting board. Cut the candy into bars or bite sized pieces and enjoy!
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