Healthy Homemade Snickers Bars (gluten-free, paleo, vegan)

Curb your sweet tooth with these healthy homemade snickers bars! This homemade candy bar recipe makes the perfect healthy dessert. They have a chewy chocolate base and are topped with an indulgent homemade caramel with crunchy peanuts. Plus, there’s no baking required!

My favorite thing in the world is when flavor and healthy ingredients come together! I truly believe it doesn’t always have to be one or the other and these homemade snickers bars are proof of that.

Made with real food-based ingredients but with the classic flavor you love, these homemade candy bars are the perfect healthy dessert.

It’s a win- win situation because my girls think it’s so awesome, they can have a “candy” bar and I secretly love knowing all the ingredients are healthy mom-approved.

 

Don’t want to read?JUMP to the recipe!

 

When To Whip Up These Healthy Homemade Snickers Bars

Well, the obvious answer is anytime you want! Haha I went through a phase when I was pregnant where I wanted them a lot, so we kept a stash in the freezer.

Logically though, these raw snickers bars are perfect for special occasions. I’ll be making them for Easter this year personally.

They’re a nice healthy dessert to bring to a gathering when you don’t really want your kids to have a bunch of processed sugar.

 

Ingredients In The Snickers Bar

As mentioned, these homemade candy bars are made with real food ingredients.

Just like energy balls, these bars are date based. This not only gives them a creamy texture but also keeps them sweet with minimal sugars. Learn more about why dates are better than traditional sugar.

The bar itself is a combo of date-based, peanut butter and sweetened with maple syrup. They’re soft, sweet and easy to make.

The topping is a homemade caramel sauce that consists of almond butter, vanilla, and coconut oil. Similar to caramel magic shell for ice cream. It’s that indulgent.

You can add as much or as little topping as you like. Finally, crushed peanuts are sprinkled on top for texture.

 

Texture Of The Homemade Candy Bar Recipe

Because these healthy snickers bars are date-based, they don’t fully freeze! This means that they retain their texture even when store.

However, the caramel topping tastes better at room temperature.

These bars are very soft with a bit of a chewy texture from the combo of date pastes and peanut butter. Having peanuts on top gives them a bit of a crunch, just like the real thing.

 

How To Store The Bars

Store the bars in the fridge or freezer. As mentioned, dates don’t freeze solid. Thus, it depends on how quickly you need them.

In order for them to firm up, they must be placed in the freezer to set (otherwise they’re too soft and mush). Once they’re set though they can be placed in the fridge and eaten anytime or the freezer.

If in the freezer, simply let them thaw for a few minutes before eating.

Choosing Molds

To make the homemade snickers bars seem more like the real thing, I obviously went with rectangle silicone molds.

And because my girls are rather young, I opted for the smaller ones as I didn’t think they needed full-size candy bars.

However, these bars will work with whichever molds and size you choose. That said, you may need to adjust the time in the freezer if the molds are larger.

Tip: heart-shaped homemade snickers bars for Valentine’s would be cute too!

 

Tips, Lessons & Troubleshooting

Because sometimes even the simplest of recipes seem complex I thought I’d go over a few troubleshooting points as well as tips I noticed when making multiple batches.

When making the date paste, add as little water as possible. Sometimes the dates can be hard to process down into a paste. However, the more water you add, the more you’ll struggle to firm up the bars. And goopy bars are no good!

Instead of adding more water, simply wait until you melt the peanut butter mixture down and add that to the processor. It should make it easier.

Likewise, the chunkier you leave the dates the more texture the bars will have. I don’t mind this but if your child has texture preferences, make sure the paste/base is blended smooth.

For the homemade caramel.: make sure you use runny almond butter (not the hard part of the bottom of the container!).

You do need to melt the coconut oil and whisk in the almond butter to get a warm and thus runny texture. Simply whisking the ingredients together will make the mixture thick and a bit chunky.

Thus, it won’t pipe.

However, you don’t want the mixture hot when you portion it into the plastic bag! So, heat the oil minimally and over very low heat. Then, whisk in the almond butter and let it sit briefly or use your finger to ensure it’s not hot.

 

Ingredients In The Healthy Snickers Bars

• 1 cup dates soaked in water for 20 minutes.
• ¼ cup Natural peanut butter
• ¼ cup cacao butter
• 1/8 cup maple syrup
• 1 tbs cacao powder
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp Arrowroot powder

For The Caramel Sauce

• 1/8 cup almond butter
• 2 teaspoon coconut oil
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup

Topping

• 2 tablespoons crushed/chopped peanuts.

 

Kitchen Tools

• silicone candy mold

 

How To Make The Homemade Candy Bars

In a small pot, heat the peanut butter, cacao butter, and maple syrup over low heat.

While heating, drain the dates and process in a food processor to make date paste. You may need to scrape down the sides. If they’re not processing, add one tablespoon of water but no more.

Once the peanut butter mixture is melted, whisk together to combine and pour into the food processor along with the sea salt and cacao powder Process until smooth.

Pour mixture into a bowl and mix in the arrowroot powder. Mix well.

Let sit for five full minutes.

Using a silicone spatula, portion the mixture into a candy mold. Press down so no bubbles remain and scrape the surface so that all bars are even.

Sprinkle the peanuts over the bars and press down slightly so they stick.

Make the caramel topping by heating the coconut oil over very low heat until just melted. Mix in the almond butter, vanilla, and maple syrup until smooth.

Let the mixture cool slightly but no harden and portion it into a plastic baggie.

Cut the tip off the baggie and begin to drizzle the caramel over the bars.

Pop into the freezer and let sit for sixty minutes. Then, carefully pop the homemade snickers bars out of the molds and store them!

Makes 20 mini snickers bars.

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Indulge in a classic flavor combo without the guilt with these raw snickers bars! These homemade candy bars are soft, decadent and topped with a healthy homemade caramel sauce. They’re a tasty way to curb a craving or a wonderful healthy dessert for kiddos!