I love Snickers bars. They are one of if not the most popular selling candy bars in the world. Those sweet milk chocolate covered, caramel peanut topped, nougat bars are so good, they really will satisfy you. Time to elevate these a bit with homemade Snickers.
These homemade Snickers are to die for. I truly believe these are better than the original. You have complete control over the ingredients that you put into them and you can switch the chocolate with dark, white, etc.
Let’s dive into the wonderful world of candy bars and make that iconic bar in the comfort of your own home.
Ingredients and Equipment
In order to make Snickers bars from scratch you will need a handful of ingredients and tools. For the nougat you will use:
- Egg – You will need only the egg white from an egg which will be the base for the homemade nougat.
- Sugar – White granulated sugar only.
- Salt – This will balance out the sweetness.
- Water
- Corn syrup
For the caramel nut topping you have a couple of options:
- Kraft caramels or make the caramel from scratch using the caramel from this homemade caramel apples recipe. (you will only need about a cup worth of this)
- Cream – Or you can use half and half or whole milk.
- Roasted peanuts – I prefer to use lightly salted, but you can use plain as well.
The chocolate coating will have a few options as well:
- Milk chocolate chips – Or you can use dark chocolate chips, semi-sweet, white, etc.
- Chocolate Candy coating or wafers
*Or you can use all of one or the other. The type of chocolate really depends on you and the flavor of homemade snickers that you want to make.
Tools/Equipment
- Large Bowl
- Medium bowl
- Mixer (Stand mixer is best, but a hand mixer will work)
- Small pot
- Spatula
- 3 Small foil bread loaf pans
- Cooking spray
- Thermometer or this Thermometer are both great.
- Sheet pan
- Parchment paper
- Knife
- Silicone baking mat
How to make homemade Snickers
Start off by making homemade nougat. In a small pot add the sugar, salt, water, and corn syrup.
NOTE: Nougat is made from hot melted sugar whipped into egg whites.
Heat on medium heat until the sugar temp reaches between 260F (127C) and 300F (149C). Stir occasionally but really stirring isn’t needed.
If you want your nougat to be firmer, which is ideal, let the melted sugar get to 300F.
While the sugar is heating up whip the egg white.
Now separate the yolk from the egg white. Place the egg white in a medium bowl. Save the egg yolk for something else.
Mix and beat the egg white on medium to medium-high speed for several minutes until you get stiff peaks. Basically, when you pull the beaters out of the egg white, the little peaks that form will not fall over. They will be firm and hold their shape.
Set the whipped egg white aside for now until the sugar is at the correct temperature.
Finish the homemade nougat
Here is a bit of a tricky part, mixing the sugar and the whipped egg white. You need to be careful here. This is an instance where a stand mixer, like this Kitchen Aid, comes in really handy.
With the mixer speed on medium to medium-high, tilt the pot of hot sugar and let it gently drizzle into the egg white while simultaneously mixing it in. Don’t dump in all the melted sugar at once it will completely ruin it. It needs to be a slow constant gentle slight drizzle of melted sugar. This part takes a good couple of minutes, so your arm may get a little tired if using a stand mixer.
Once the sugar has been all mixed in, continue mixing the warm nougat for 1 to 2 minutes.
Pour it evenly into 3 small tin foil bread loaf pans which have been sprayed with cooking spray. Use a spatula if necessary to evenly spread it out.
Place in the fridge for 4 hours at the least, but overnight is recommended. So the nougat gets sufficiently firm.
Prepare the homemade snickers caramel nut filling
Once the nougat has firmed up it is time to make the caramel nut filling. You can do this in a couple of ways. Make homemade caramel, using any homemade caramel recipe or this caramel recipe. (You only need about 1 cup worth of melted caramel)
If you don’t want to make the caramel from scratch, then use the Kraft individual caramel. I actually do this more often than not.
Add the individual unwrapped caramels to a medium bowl. Pour the heavy cream, half and half, or milk on top and place it in the microwave and heat on high for 30 seconds, then stir. Repeat until fully melted.
OR
Place the caramels and cream in a small pot on the stovetop and heat over medium-low heat until fully melted.
Once melted stir in the peanuts. Pour the mixture evenly over each of the three nougats.
Place them in the fridge again and let set for about 30 minutes. Until the caramel is firm but not super hard.
Finish the Snickers bars
Once the caramel nut topping has firmed up it is time to melt some chocolate and finish these homemade Snickers.
Place your chocolate in a small bowl and melt it in the microwave for bursts of 30 seconds then stir repeating until melted or use the double boiler method on the burner. If you don’t want to use a microwave.
Remove 1 pan from the fridge and plop out the caramel-covered nougat. Place it caramel side down on a cutting board that has been lined with parchment paper. Spray a knife with cooking spray then cut it into 5 or 6 pieces.
Dip them one at a time in the melted chocolate. Use a spoon or fork. Tap it a little bit to allow the excess melted chocolate to drizzle off, then place it on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Then repeat the steps with the other pans of “naked” Snickers.
Once done put the pan in the fridge and allow the snickers bars time to set. It only takes about 30 minutes.
Once the chocolate has set you can eat them as is or if you want them to look nicer you can trim the edges down with a knife.
You may need to set them out on the counter for about 10 minutes before biting into them, it just depends on how firm the caramel is.
This recipe makes 15 to 18 homemade snickers. Enjoy!
How long does homemade Snickers last?
If stored in an airtight container in the fridge they will last a few weeks. They can also be frozen. Just make sure to set them out on the counter to soften them a bit before eating.
Here are other yummy homemade candy bar recipes you may like:
Snickers Crisper Copycat Recipe
Homemade Snickers
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Medium bowl
- Mixer (Stand mixer is best, but a hand mixer will work)
- Small pot
- Spatula
- 3 Small foil bread loaf pans
- cooking spray
- Thermometer or this Thermometer are both great.
- sheet pan
- parchment paper
- Knife
- Silicone Baking Mat
Ingredients
Homemade Nougat
- 1 large egg only using the egg white
- 2/3 cup of sugar 134g
- 1/4 tsp of salt 1g
- 1 Tbsp of water 15ml
- 1/3 cup of corn syrup 110g
Caramel Nut Filling
- 30 Kraft caramels or 3/4 cup of melted homemade caramel 248g
- 1 1/2 Tbsp of cream half and half, or whole milk (20ml)
- 3/4 of lightly salted roasted peanuts or plain roasted (100g)
Chocolate Coating
- 1 cup of milk chocolate chips 170g
- 1 cup of chocolate candy coating 225g
Instructions
- Add the sugar, salt, water, and corn syrup to a small pot. Heat over medium heat until it reaches 300F (148C). Check temp with a candy thermometer.
- While the sugar is heating, separate the egg yolk from the white. Place the egg white in a medium bowl and mix until you have stiff peaks. This will take 3 to 5 minutes.
- Turn the mixer on medium to medium-high speed and mix the egg whites simultaneously take the hot melted sugar and pour it gently so only a slow steady small stream of melted sugar pours into the bowl.
- Continue mixing and pouring until all the sugar is slowly incorporated with the egg white, creating the nougat. It will take 3 to 5 minutes.
- Once incorporated, mixed the nougat for 1 to 2 minutes longer. Then pour the nougat evenly into three small tin foil bread loaf pans which have been sprayed with cooking spray. Spread evenly with a spatula if necessary.
- Place the pans of nougat in the fridge for 4 hours minimum but overnight is recommended.
- Add the caramels to a bowl with the cream and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds, then stir, then heat again, etc. Until melted. You can melt them in a pot on the stovetop burner as well. OR make homemade caramel. The recipe is in the notes section.
- Stir the peanuts in with the melted caramel then pour it evenly over the top of the three pans of nougat.
- Place them in the fridge for about 30 to 40 minutes until the caramel has firmed up.
- Add the chocolate to a bowl and melt in the microwave with bursts of 30 seconds and then stir, etc. Until melted. Or use the double boiler method to melt the chocolate.
- Start with one pan. Remove the nougat and caramel from the pan and place it caramel-side down on top of a cutting board lined with parchment paper. Spray a knife with cooking spray then cut it into 5 to 6 pieces.
- Dip each piece of homemade Snickers in the melted chocolate with a fork, then remove it and tap it so the excess chocolate drizzles off. Place on a sheet pan lined with a silicon baking mat or parchment paper. Do this with the rest of them.
- Place the candy bars in the fridge so the chocolate can set. It will take 20 to 30 minutes.
- Remove the homemade Snickers from the fridge and eat as is, or trim the bottoms/edges with a knife so they look nicer. Enjoy!
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Do you like this from-scratch Snickers copycat recipe? Please give it a rating and comment down below, I really appreciate it. Save the Pin to Pinterest! If you make it tag me on Instagram @inthekitchenwithmatt. Also, sign up for the newsletter so you won’t miss out on any of my new posts and recipes.
Check out my other website 101 Creative Dates for fun date ideas. Food and dating go hand in hand!
Thank goodness- my kids loved these! So fun to make too!
Awesome! So glad you like these homemade Snickers!
WOW! These were great and I feel so much better about eating these than the actual ones.
Glad you like the homemade Snickers! I like them better than the originals as well.
I never realized (or thought about lol) what nougat was made from – I’m excited to try making these!
Awesome!! 🙂 Yeah, it is very interesting how nougat is made.