This recipe is a firm favorite between family and friends. After trying quite a few vegan snickers bars inspired recipes (ahem, by a few I mean LOTS!) this one is definitely closest to the original and I can honestly say is the best homemade snickers bar I've tasted.
These peanut caramel bars have a chewy nougaty base topped with salted peanut caramel, roasted peanuts, and a generous coating of creamy vegan milk chocolate. This is the only recipe for snickers you'll need!
Being one of the most popular and tested recipes here on the blog, this peanut butter snickers of course made it into my new cookbook “No-Bake Vegan Desserts“, which has a whole chapter for classic candy bars including vegan Twix bars. If you're looking for more recipes with snickers, make sure you also try my no-bake snickers tart and vegan snickers ice cream bars!
What to expect from this recipe
✔️ Easy to make with no baking required.
✔️ Made with just 8 main ingredients.
✔️ Healthier than a conventional store-bought snickers candy bars
✔️ A guaranteed crowd-pleaser.
✔️ Completely eggless, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
Ingredients needed
Notes about the ingredients
- Unsalted peanuts: Unsalted peanuts make the base of the peanut nougat layer of these bars. You can use store-bought peanuts that already have had the skins removed or you can also use roasted “monkey nuts”. Monkey nuts that have been roasted in their shells take a little more effort, as you’ll need to de-shell them all, but they do give a really nice deep-roasted peanut flavor to the base.
- Medjool dates: Together with the peanuts Medjool dates are used to form the nougat layer. They add sweetness, and fiber, and also act as the glue that keeps everything together. Medjool dates also make the main ingredient for the peanut caramel layer. Their sweetness, caramel flavor, and texture make them the perfect ingredients for creating a thick, spreadable caramel.
- Rice milk: I like the subtle sweetness and mild flavor that rice milk gives to the caramel. You can, however, use any other plant-based milk of your choice. Just make sure you opt for a gluten-free variety if required.
- Peanut butter: I like to use crunchy peanut butter for the caramel. Half of the peanut butter will be blended with the rest of the caramel ingredients whereas the other half gets folded in after blending, leaving small chunks of peanuts in the mix for added texture.
- Vanilla extract: This completes every no-bake dessert as it enhances the flavor of the caramel while adding another layer of flavor dimension to it as well.
- Roasted peanuts: You can opt for unsalted nuts if you’re trying to keep the sodium content low. I do however recommend getting roasted peanuts, as their deep flavor makes all the difference to the flavor of these bars.
- Salt: Sea salt or pink Himalayan salt are added to both the nougat and caramel to enhance the flavor and balance the sweetness of the bars.
- Dairy-free chocolate: No snickers bars would be complete without a healthy thick coating of chocolate! These bars work well with dairy-free “milk” chocolate or dark chocolate.
- Coconut oil: A small amount of coconut oil is added to the melted chocolate in order to thin it, making it easier to coat the bars.
How to make vegan snickers (with step-by-step images)
(Full ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post)
Making the peanut nougat base
- To make the base, start by blending the peanuts in your food processor. Bring them to a light crumb consistency.
- Next, add in the salt and Medjool dates and blend further until completely combined into a paste/dough consistency.
- Line your baking dish with parchment paper and add the crumb mixture to it. (You can use a long 12 x 3.5″ loaf pan or baking dish or an 8 x 8″ baking dish)
- Press the mixture evenly into the base of the dish using a spatula, condensing it down until compacted.
Making the peanut caramel
- For the caramel, add the dates, rice milk, half of the peanut butter, vanilla extract, and salt to a high-speed blender and blitz until completely smooth. Make sure you’re patient with the caramel and keep blending until it’s silky smooth, you don’t want there to be any visible lumps of dates in the mixture.
- Next, transfer the caramel to a bowl, and fold in the remaining crunchy peanut butter, mixing until smooth.
- Spread the caramel on top of the base using your spatula. Add the roasted peanuts on top of the caramel and place in the freezer for at least 2 hours (overnight if possible).
Coating the candy bars
- Remove the snickers slab from the baking tray and cut it into bars. Make these fun size snickers by cutting them into 18 miniature bars, or large bars by cutting them into 12. Place the bars back in the freezer whilst you prepare the chocolate coating.
- Melt the chocolate and coconut oil over a double boiler. Then dip the bars into the chocolate and sit them on top of a cooling rack to set.
- You can dip them a second time for a thicker layer of chocolate. Sprinkle with some flaky sea salt and they're ready to enjoy.
Storage instructions
These bars keep really well stored in an airtight container both in the fridge and freezer, but no kidding, I doubt that they will last a couple of days (they definitely don’t in my house anyway!).
Frequently asked questions
Yes, this recipe is gluten-free, grain-free, soy-free, and coconut-free (depending on the brand of chocolate you use).
Although they're not baked these bars are not technically raw due to using roasted peanuts, chocolate, and rice milk. If you would like to make raw snickers bars, opt for raw peanuts, raw chocolate, and raw plant-based milk such as homemade almond milk or cashew milk.
If the nougat base is a little crumbly to the touch, add one tablespoon of water or plant-based milk and process until you have a mixture that holds together when pressed between your fingers.
Variations
Roast the peanuts: To take the flavor of these bars to the next level, you can roast the peanuts for the nougat for 10 minutes at 180°C (356°F) for 10 minutes. This intensifies the flavor of the peanuts as they brown slightly and begin to release their oils.
Make them peanut-free: By swapping out the peanuts for cashews and the peanut butter for cashew butter.
For a snickers protein bar spin on this recipe try my chocolate peanut butter protein bars!
More vegan candy bar recipes
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📖 Recipe
Description
Ingredients
Base
- 2 cups (290 g) unsalted peanuts, *see recipe notes
- 10 medjool dates, pitted
- ¼ teaspoons Himalayan pink salt, or sea salt
Caramel
- 10 medjool dates, pitted
- ½ cup (118 ml) rice milk, or other non-dairy milk
- 1 cup (258 g) crunchy peanut butter, divided
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoons Himalayan pink salt, or sea salt
- 1 cup (146 g) roasted peanuts
Coating
- 9 oz (255 g) vegan chocolate, for coating
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil, solid, for coating
Instructions
Base
- Blend the peanuts in your food processor until they form a light crumb. Add in the salt and medjool dates and blend further until completely combined.
- Line the base and sides of a 12 x 3½" or 8 x 8" with parchment paper, creating a sling to make it easier to lift out the bars once set. Press the mixture evenly into the base of the dish using a spatula.
Caramel
- Add the dates, rice milk, half cup of peanut butter, salt, and vanilla extract to a high-speed blender and blitz until completely smooth. Transfer the caramel to a bowl and add the remaining half cup of peanut butter, then stir well to combine.
- Using your spatula, spread the caramel on top of the base. Add the roasted peanuts on top of the caramel and press them down into the surface of the caramel using your spatula. Place in the freezer for at least 2 hours (overnight if possible).
Coating
- Remove the snickers slab from the baking tray and cut it into 18 miniature bars or 12 large bars. Place the bars back in the freezer whilst you prepare the chocolate coating.
- Melt the chocolate and coconut oil over a double boiler. Dip the bars into the chocolate and sit them on top of a cooling rack lined with parchment paper to set. You can dip them a second time for a thicker layer of chocolate.
Serving and Storage
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for one week or freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost at room temperature for an hour before serving.
Notes
- If your nougat base is crumbly, add one tablespoon of water or non-dairy milk and process until you have a mixture that holds together when pressed between your fingers.
- Roasting the peanuts takes the flavor of these bars to the next level. Place the nuts on a baking tray and roast at 180°C (356°F) for 15-25 minutes, depending on your oven and how toasted you want them to be.
Nutrition
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