Not "buying" into the holiday [Homemade Snickers]

Too many people have strong feelings about Valentine's Day. Some love it, some hate it, some pretend to hate it but really love it, and some change their mind depending on the year. Me? Its just another grand excuse to bake something extravagant, whether its for someone else...or just me. And it was supposed to just be me, until Monday night. Then Boyfriend decided he would come down for a visit.

Good Boyfriend...behavior deserving of a treat! Nevermind it being our FOURTH Valentine's Day together :-P

So on the day that everyone typically receives boxes of store-bought chocolates (And flowers. Good lord, the flowers at my office!), I decided to show how much I really care by MAKING Boyfriend snickers bars. Yes, snicker bars. You can make them!

It was easy, no actual baking required; but it did require a number of bowls and a large amount of patience, with all the melting and hardening. All in all, they were practically complete by the time Boyfriend got here from Richmond--about an hour. 

Now let me rewind a little bit back in the day: Boyfriend signed me up for a Valentine's Day baking contest at his work, for which I was able to somehow throw cookies together on Sunday evening. (My life last week was a whirlwind--a discussion for another post.) I made brownie chocolate chip cookie dough sandwiches, which I was pretty confident would win, purely on creativity. Sadly, no pictures were taken--but a remake is in order, they were GOOD. Oh, also sadly: I didn't win. I was comforted by Boyfriend's surprisingly detailed discussion of the other *boring* items entered (carrot cake cupcakes...cheesecake bars? gross) and his comment following a single bite of these snickers. It was something to the effect of "These would've won."

A redemption of sorts. Not that it was necessary.

These are so stinking good and remarkably on-point with the real thing...except softer and fresher, to the point you think it's maybe a little better for you (ha). I scaled the recipe down by half; Lord knows what would happen to me if I had a full 9x13 sheet of snickers in my fridge! Although, now that I know how to make them (and have leftover evaporated milk in my fridge), these bars are sure to reappear not long after I finish off my four remaining ones. Ugh, Valentine's Day! :)

Homemade Snickers

Very Slightly Adapted from How Sweet It Is

Servings: ~20 squares

Bottom chocolate layer

1/2 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 tbsp peanut butter

• Thoroughly grease you 8x8 or 4x6.5 baking pan, or line with wax paper. Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour into the baking dish and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely by placing pan in freezer for about 5 minutes.

Nougat layer

1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tbsp evaporated milk

3/4 cup marshmallow fluff

1 1/2 tbsp peanut butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup salted peanuts, roughly chopped

• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in sugar and milk, stirring until dissolved and bring to a boil. Let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

• Add in fluff, peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until smooth.

• Turn off heat and then pour over bottom chocolate layer. Scatter peanuts onto top of nougat. Let cool completely by placing pan in freezer for about 5 minutes

Caramel layer

1/2 of a 14-ounce bag of caramels (about 25 pieces)

~2 tbsp evaporated milk (start with 1 1/2 tbsp and gradually add more, if needed)

1/2 cup salted peanuts, roughly chopped

•  Combine caramels and milk in a saucepan over low heat. Let melt, stirring occasionally, until smooth, (about 10 minutes). Add peanuts and stir until well combined. Remove from heat and pour over nougat layer and let cool completely by placing pan in freezer for about 5 minutes.

Top chocolate layer

1/2 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 tbsp peanut butter

• Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour over caramel and spread until even (work fast; chocolate will harden more quickly than the two layers before it). Let cool and harden completely by placing pan in freezer for about 5 minutes.

• Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving, then cut as desired. Keep snickers in refrigerator or freezer for best results.