Holiday Food Gifts: Homemade Snicker Bars

So I am gearing up for my annual food gifts for family and friends for the Holiday Season.  Usually the month of December is dedicated to thinking about and then making sweets to give away.  It’s just about my favorite thing to do besides making Birthday Cakes (just made one for our Auto Mechanic who has become a friend as well: Chocolate Crunch Layer Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting by Maida Heatter.  I was able to use the Skor candy that I found, for the middle layer.  He was impressed when I unveiled it and said later that day it was delicious.  Yippee!)

I traditionally include in my Gift Baskets,  mini pound cakes from the Sour Cream Pound Cake recipe, Coconut Biscotti , Triple Chocolate Biscotti,  Cranberry and White Chocolate Biscotti, some jam that I have made over the summer (sorry never did post that, draft is still in the works.  Next year!) and candy.  The candy is always something different and this year I think I have found my ultimate candy addition (well this years ultimate choice, anyway):  Homemade Snicker Bars.

I love Snicker Bars because I love caramel and chocolate together and the addition of peanuts puts it over the top.  So making them homemade just really appealed to me.

I am directing you to the recipe link because I followed the instructions almost exact but am following up with pictures and comments.  This is not a difficult candy, probably one of the easier ones I have made because there is no candy thermometer involved.

Leite’s Culinaria Homemade Snickers Bar

In the recipe Valrhona chocolate is suggested.  I would have to send away for this, not something I am inclined to do.  Ghirardelli chocolate works fine for me.

I used parchment paper and sprayed it with Canola Oil spray rather than buttering it.  I also only had a glass loaf pan.  I think a metal loaf pan would work better because the edges would be less round.

I melted the milk chocolate in my microwave BUT this can be tricky because it can burn the chocolate VERY easily.  So if you know your microwave intimately (hmmm) then use this method otherwise do as the recipe says and use the double boiler method.

The milk chocolate was cold to the touch for me in 30 minutes so check yours in 30 minutes.

Follow the directions exactly for the next layer, the times are excellent.

Once I added the peanuts, I did not let it sit for 5 minutes.  I poured it immediately onto the first milk chocolate layer.

I did not trim the uneven edges when I was cutting up the giant Snickers bar (if I did, I would have had to eat the trimmings!  yikes!)

first layer of milk chocolate:

sugar and water boiling:

deep amber color:

cream, white chocolate, salt and peanuts blended:

second layer over milk chocolate:

giant Snicker bar:

cutting up:

Have Fun!!