This is one of the best recipes I’ve ever come up with. It has 4 ingredients: chocolate, caramel, a touch of cream and salted peanuts – couldn’t be simpler – and it’s the freshest candy bar you’ve ever eaten. A batch of these would make a wonderful hostess or holiday gift; they would be great at a birthday party; they are amazing when chopped up and blended into ice cream, and they can be cut into elegant little squares and served as after-dinner chocolates. So versatile! (I’d even keep a batch in the freezer to break out when unexpected guests arrive, if I had the self-control not to be nibbling at them all the time.)
I love these little bars because they’re a truly special treat; more than a cookie, and better than a store-bought candy bar. If food is the way to a person’s heart, these homemade candy bars will be bringing you lots of love!
Homemade Candy Bars
Serves: 8-10
Prep time: 1 ½ hours, including 1 hour for bars to freeze
Ingredients
- 2 12-ounce bags of Nestle’s semisweet chocolate morsels
- 2 bags of Werther’s or Kraft vanilla caramels
- 1 cup Planter’s salted peanuts
- ¼ cup cream
Directions
- Melt one bag of the chocolate morsels slowly in a double boiler, or over a pan of simmering water, stirring often until chocolate is completely melted.
- Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with waxed paper, leaving several inches of the paper hanging over the side to make it easy to remove later.
- Pour the chocolate into the baking pan and put in refrigerator for 30 minutes until chocolate is hardened.
- Chocolate should not be more than ¼-inch thick.
- While chocolate is in the refrigerator, unwrap the caramels and melt slowly in double boiler, stirring often.
- Add cream and mix well.
- Allow caramel to cool a bit. When chocolate is hardened, pour a thin layer of caramel over the chocolate, not more than ¼” thick.
- Place peanuts thickly on top of caramel and put baking pan back in refrigerator for caramel to harden.
- Melt remaining chocolate in double-boiler.
- When caramel is hardened (about 15-20 minutes), pour final layer of chocolate over peanuts and allow to cool in refrigerator for – minutes.)
- Remove baking pan from refrigerator and using the waxed paper hanging over the sides of the pan, lift the block of candy out of the pan, and place on a cutting board.
- Remove waxed paper and cut candy into desired pieces.
- Store in refrigerator to keep candy fresh, but give it ten minutes to cool before serving.
