Soft peanut buttery nougat, creamy caramel and crunchy peanuts (or, if you prefer, cashews!) encased in rich, dreamy chocolate. If you like Snickers bars, you are going to LOVE these gourmet homemade Snickers bars, made from scratch in your own kitchen. Once you taste THESE, you’ll never look at a store-bought Snickers bar the same way again.
Don’t get me wrong. I definitely appreciate the commercial Snickers bars. I remember when I was young and we were going hiking, I was always excited for the Snickers bars. Mom and dad would buy them to give us energy for the hike.
So why on earth would I take all the time and energy to make homemade Snickers bars when I can go out and buy Snickers bars (or a bag of little individually wrapped ones)? Because I’ve always wondered how to make a Snickers bar. Especially the nougat part. Did you ever wonder how they make that lovely soft nougat? Well, now you can experience it first hand. And you know what? It’s really quite easy to do.
Homemade Snickers Bars make great gifts!
Every year I like to make homemade gifts for the holidays. Usually I make way too many sweets. And then, on top of that, I buy candy to put in the stockings. Well, this year I’m trying my best not to go TOO overboard. I started with my soft, dreamy homemade vanilla caramels and my cinnamon roasted almonds. I wanted to play with the caramels and THIS is how I decided to play with my caramels this year. Now I just need to figure out how to package them up for gifting!
I found this recipe for Homemade Snickers Bars at Butter with a Bit of Bread and was immediately smitten. I adapted it just slightly with a few of my own personal touches. Jessica claims you can make this in just 30 minutes. Perhaps once you’ve made it many times that might happen, but I would say allow at least an hour for the base recipe. And if you decide to go the route of giving your snickers bars a full coat of chocolate, you’ll need at least another hour, possibly more. Dipping in chocolate takes some time and can get a little messy, but I find it relaxing and fun.
Choose good quality ingredients if you want gourmet tasting results. I used Ghirardelli chocolate and my favorite Mexican vanilla along with our favorite natural peanut butter. But I think what really takes it over the top is the homemade caramel. Use store-bought if you must, but choose a brand that you really like. The softer, the better.
Then go make these and give gourmet homemade snickers bars to all your friends and family. Because they’re going to love you for this.
Gourmet Homemade Snickers Bars
- Prep Time: 1 – 2 hours
- Total Time: 1 – 2 hours
- Yield: 75 – 80 small bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Creamy caramel, crunchy peanuts, soft peanut buttery nougat all coated in rich chocolate.
Ingredients
For coating the Snickers bars:
- 2 – 3 cups chocolate chips + 1/2 – 3/4 cup Tablespoons peanut butter
For the nougat:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup evaporated milk or cream
- 1 7-oz. tub of marshmallow cream (or 7 oz. of mini marshmallows)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the rest:
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups roasted, salted peanuts, cashews (chopped) or other nuts of choice
- 11 – 12 oz. caramel (store bought or even better if homemade – recipe here) + additional evaporated milk as needed (1 – 4 Tablespoons)
- Flaky sea salt, for the top (optional)
Instructions
- Line a 9×13 inch pan with parchment paper. Make a flat space in your freezer for the pan.
- Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup of peanut butter in the microwave for about 90 seconds. Stir until smooth, then pour into the prepared pan. Use a silicon spatula to spread the chocolate out over the bottom of the pan. Set the pan in the freezer until the chocolate is set.
- Next, make the nougat. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the butter, sugar and evaporated milk. Stir occasionally to mix together as the butter melts. Measure out 1/4 cup peanut butter and keep it at hand along with the vanilla and marshmallow cream. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low (high enough to keep it boiling but not so high as to overheat). Boil for 6 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the rest of the nougat ingredients until smooth. Pour this mixture over the chocolate in the 9×13 pan and use a spatula to smooth it out. Set it back in the freezer to cool.
- When the nougat layer is completely cool, remove and then pat as many nuts as you can possibly fit into the nougat.
- In a small bowl, melt the caramel in the microwave for 1 minute, then stir. If the caramels are hard, you may need to add a bit of evaporated milk or cream to get it to liquid state, but if you’re using soft caramel (like my soft vanilla caramels), then it will melt to liquid without added milk or cream. Pour the caramel over the nuts, attempting to coat them all in caramel. Put the pan back in the freezer for 10 – 15 minutes.
- Now, you can choose to simply spread a layer of melted chocolate/peanut butter on top like you did on bottom, then chill and cut into squares. Or you can cut them into small squares (about 1 inch square) and dip them separately, like a proper Snickers bar. You’ll need more chocolate and peanut butter if you choose the latter. I used about 3 cups of chocolate with somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 cup peanut butter.
Notes
- If dipping in chocolate, use a fork to help hold the bar at the top while you coat the sides, then dip the top and use the fork to remove excess chocolate. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of sea salt for an extra special touch. If the chocolate starts to thicken while you’re working, warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- These babies freeze well, so you can make them ahead of time and store them for later!
- RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2022, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
4 comments
The nougat sounds incredible!
Nettie
Can’t wait to make. Now I just need the caramel. Then I’m all set.
★★★★★
My friend loved these. We used Swerve instead of sugar because her and her hubby are diabetics. Tasted perfect. Very yummy
★★★★★
I’m so happy you had good results with the swerve! Thanks for your rating and kind comment.