Homemade Snickers Candy Bar Recipe

Snickers candy bars are awesome, but I wanted to try making them at home without all the stabilizers and additives necessary for a mass-market, shelf-stable candy bar*.  This recipe is super-easy, and makes a full pan of delicious homemade Snickers candy bars!

Beware, they're extremely good, and as I said, the recipe makes LOTS.  Be sure to have a crowd to eat these treats, or the self-control to put them in the freezer for longer-term storage!  My testers report that these candy bars taste even better frozen.

*Yes, I know this version still uses ingredients that contain some stabilizers and additives - they make it taste most like a true Snickers bar.  Feel free to substitute homemade peanut butter, marshmallows, etc to fit your preferences.

Step 1: Gather materials and ingredients

I'm giving these ingredients by both weight and volume where relevant.  Weighing is much easier, but if you don't have a digital kitchen scale yet* the volume measurements will do. 

Ingredients:
14 oz milk chocolate (about 2 cups chips, or coarsely chopped bar) divided in half
3.5 oz  (1/2 cup) butterscotch chips, divided in half
192 g (3/4 cup) creamy peanut butter, divided into 3 parts (1/4 cup, 64g each)
5.5 tablespoons butter (divided: 4 Tbsp and 1.5 Tbsp)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk, divided in half
156 g (1.5 cups) marshmallow fluff
1 teaspoon vanilla
1.5 cups salted peanuts, chopped (or substitute nuts of your choice)
1 pound chewy caramels

Optional: (if coating the sides of your bars)
7oz milk chocolate
1.75 oz butterscotch chips
64g creamy peanut butter

Materials:
one 9x13 pan
waxed paper or plastic wrap
microwave-safe bowl
small (1 quart) pot
heat-proof spatula
sharp knife
cutting board
microwave
stove

*No really, you should get a kitchen scale NOW!  They're cheap, and make baking so much easier.  You can get an excellent scale from Amazon for about $25.

Comments

[gosphero]

They look so good! This robot is drooling.

[Ruminator]

Many thanks Canida, I lost my job at Xmas and am only working part-time now, protien bars are expensive now. Your Instructable has inspired me to have a punt at making my own, Cheers.

[spitxandxfire]

How long did you let it sit in the freezer? Until frozen or until solid?

[RMOWERY]

Be sure to remove the boiling mixture from the heat BEFORE adding the marshmallow creme or it will never set. You will get the result you want this way.

[AussieAnglerGal]

i think I'm gong to electrocute myself from drooling on the keyboard....

[hviaene]

Couldn't you also do it via 'au bain marie'? Or does it really have to be in an microwave?

[tbrimlow]

Haven't tried it yet but definitely going to soon sounds so delicious

[duck_tape_]

a double boiler might work well for melting the caramel

[canida]

You're right!  That would be the perfect tool, but I didn't have one at hand and am lazy. ;)

[titanium_geek]

bowl over a small pot with water in it?

[claton]

lawl

[patrickh44]

wooow, those look so delicious!

[lemonpickle]

oooooooo this looks good

[handyman05]

I bet that if you avoided the peanuts, and left everything else the same, that they would make good Milky Ways too.

[thoward3]

it taste so good.

[barri_kid]

I didn't buy peanuts. I just realized you need peanut butter. Well... Im not allergic to peanuts, but I was thinking of making this for new years (yea, its in quite a while) and one of my cousins is allergic that I would see there.

[canida]

Substitute almonds and almond butter, or another nut butter. Won't taste quite the same, but avoiding anaphylactic shock is key. ;)

[barri_kid]

How many will this make in the end? I know you say lots, but how much is a lot? 20? 30? 50?

Also, unfortunately? one dinner might consist of these...

What is marshmallow fluff by the way?

[skaar]

i jarred marshmallow, softer than the puffed ones.

[brooklynbrownie]

YUM. I am so making these! Thanks for the inspiration (and instructions!)

[ModernAchilles]

Anyone know how many this makes if cutting them into shown size?

[canida]

I used a 9x13 pan. Figure you lose about 1/2" on each side due to the curved edges of the pan, so once it's squared off you're working with an 8" x 12" block.

[mailmam71]

I thought these looked interesting and yummy, I had most of the stuff and had something to go to tonight so decided to make them. It was fun, it was messy and I thought I'd never finish!! I didn't have time to get them really frozen before cutting so they didn't turn out as nice as the pictured ones but everyone raved over them so it was a success. I'm not sure I'll ever do it again but my hats off to you who come up with these recipes and then all the pictures!

[canida]

Yay, I'm glad you liked them!
Freezing will definitely help. If you get the chance to make them again, definitely leave them longer to freeze. Much easier to handle, and tastier too. ;)

[knexfan100]

normal snickers cost $2.50. these homemade bars cst 50 cents per bar to make and taste better and it still satifies

[static]

$2.50 for a normal Snicker bar? Whoa! Fortunately not here in the flyover portion of the USA.

[Kaldric]

$2.50 for a Snickers bar?  That seems really high.  I can usually find the King Size candy bars for about $1.50 or less where I live, and the regular sizes are often on sale for about $0.50. 

So, if a regular candy bar is approximately 1 inch wide and 4.3 inches long, you could get about 36 regular sized bars in the pan, plus the extra that was cut off to make the nice square edges.  That would cost me about $18 to buy, thus the homemade snickers would be a slightly better price.

I assume, based on the large difference in the cost of the candy bar alone (and the fact that I can get 2 cups of chocolate chips for about $1 as opposed to $5), that I can get the raw ingredients for some price less than what was posted, and would therefore be an even better deal.

Regardless, this looks awesome and I plan to try it out.

[knexfan100]

In michagan the price shot up by alot the past year. now they finally fixed the price but that does not mean i would buy them because I can make them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ChuckVanT]

 So, what you're saying, Kaldric is it's a single serving?!?  LOL

[SirisC]

Don't know where y'all get your snickers, but a regular snickers bar usually costs between $0.20  and $0.50 each at grocery stores (usually 3 per dollar). I might be able to understand $2.50 inside Disney World or at the movie theater.

[kcirillo]

in orlando the average snickers bar is like $1.89 (at 2 different grocery stores today)

[knexfan100]

like i said, the price went back to normal but that does not mean i would buy them because I can make them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[vicvelcro]

Ok, so...

Made a second batch today (still cooling in the freezer). A tag team job. My cousin and her 2 kiids (6 and 8). We requisitioned a vehicle and a driver to make an emergency trip to the grocery store.

Great fun for kids to help with. Just be sure to delegate the proper task to the appropriate individual.

Total time was about 25 minutes. Total cost was about $15, but there were leftover nuts and fluff and peanut butter. Materials used were probably about 11 bucks.

Cleanup was easier this time due to the kids licking the bowls and the spoons prior to hitting the sink. Less rubbing and scrubbing for me.

YAY!

[Kartik]

For those who couldnt get their hands on these chewy caramels,heres how you can make it
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/chewy-caramel/Detail.aspx

[chad7472]

forget that hand grenade oil lamp...THESE are dangerous! mmmmm.

[thecheatscalc]

well, I've finally gotten around to doing these!

first off... Absolutely delicious!

However, I followed the instructions, and my caramel and nougat seem... somewhat fluid? I'm having trouble keeping them from slowly leaking out.

Mine seem to have turned out more like ice cream bars than snickers... but they're still really good! I may try adding paraffin to the chocolate next time to make them more hands friendly.

[canida]

It's definitely a bit softer than a real Snickers bar, since we didn't use any additional thickeners/stabilizers or paraffin. But it was still thicker than what you're describing. Maybe you need more marshmallow fluff to solidify your nougat? And cooking the caramel a bit longer could help it become more solid.

Anyway: I ultimately ate them frozen, which was both insanely delicious and solved any softening issues.

[Hackrtanman]

i made this...and boy i have to say, better than snickers. I brought half of mine to school, and by the end of the day, people were litterally drooling. Of course, i gave credit to you. Long storie short, MAKE IT!

[canida]

Hooray, glad to be helpful!
There's really nothing better than homemade candy. ;)

If you make it again, post a picture!

[simbry49]

I made these and they were great. I only used the microwave for heating things up. I just followed the directions on the bag of choco chips. Do the caramels slowly though, they do not melt very fast. They are ooee gooee