Halloween: Homemade Snickers Bars

You love Snickers bars? Got a day to play in the kitchen? These are so good. I'm including measurements for making half a recipe. This is one of the few candy recipes you can actually halve without problems. Yes, it's long, but each individual element is delicious! So give it a shot! The caramel and nougat are good on their own! In any case, if you would rather go out and just purchase a snickers, that's ok too. Let's do this thing!

Homemade Snickers Bars

INGREDIENTS between the () are for half the recipe.

PEANUT CARAMEL
2 cups heavy whipping cream (1 cup)
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup (3/4 cup)
1 1/2 cups sifted sugar (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes (1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon vanilla (1½ teaspoons)
3 1/2 cups salted, roasted peanuts (1 3/4 cups)

PEANUT BUTTER NOUGAT
2 cups light corn syrup (1 cup)
2 cups sifted sugar (1 cup)
1 cup packed light brown sugar (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup water (1/8 cup)
2 large egg whites, at room temperature (1 egg white)
pinch of cream of tartar
2 1/2 cups chunk-style peanut butter (1 1/4 cups)
3/4 cup finely chopped, salted, roasted peanuts (3/8 cup)
1 tablespoon vanilla (1 1/2 teaspoons)

CHOCOLATE COATING
3-1/2 pounds chocolate couverture, tempered (1-3/4 pounds)

If you don't want to temper the chocolate (and who does), get some chocolate"bark" coating chocolate in the baking section of your favorite major grocery store or at a store carrying candy making supplies, e.g. Wilton.

INSTRUCTIONS IN () ARE FOR MAKING HALF A RECIPE.

MAKE THE PEANUT CARAMEL

Line the bottom and sides of a 15-1/2 x 10-1/2 (9 x 9) jelly roll pan with heavy duty aluminum foil, leaving a 2" overhang on the short ends. Fold the overhang underneath the pan. Butter the bottom of the blade of an offset metal cake spatula.

Lightly butter the sides of a heavy 3-1/2 or 4 quart saucepan.

Add the cream, corn syrup, sugars, butter and salt.

Stir constantly with a wooden spoon, cook mixture over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sugar crystals are completely dissolved. Wash down the sides of the pan occasionally.

Raise the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil. Insert a candy thermometer and cook 30 to 40 minutes, stirring frequently until the thermometer registers 246°.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and peanuts.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread with the buttered spatula.

Set the pan of caramel on a wire rack for 2 to 3 hours or overnight to cool completely.

MAKE THE PEANUT BUTTER NOUGAT

Butter the bottom of the blade of an offset metal cake spatula.

In a heavy 3 ½ to 4 quart saucepan, combine corn syrup, sugars, and water.

Stir constantly over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Wash down the sides of the pan occasionally.

Raise the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil. Insert a candy thermometer and cook 18 to 22 minutes until the thermometer registers 246°. Do NOT stir during cooking process.

When the syrup reaches 242° start beating the egg whites.

Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar. Increase the speed and continue beating until stiff shiny peaks form.

Transfer the syrup from the pan into a heat resistant measuring cup.

At low speed, pour the syrup down the side of the egg whites.

Continue beating for 3 to 5 minutes until mixture forms a thick shiny ribbon.

Remove the wire whip and replace with the paddle attachment.

At low speed, beat in the peanut butter, peanuts and vanilla.

Quickly scrape the nougat over the cooled caramel.

Cover the surface with plastic wrap that has been lightly sprayed with canola or other vegetable oil and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, until the nougat is firm.

Remove the pan of peanut caramel nougat from the refrigerator and leave at room temperature overnight.

COAT THE CANDY BARS

Remove plastic wrap from the surface of the nougat. Invert onto a cutting board. Re-invert so that the peanut butter nougat side is facing upwards. Cut the candy into serving pieces. Dip into couverture.. Set onto a chilled parchment covered cookie sheet to set.

Boney appetite!

It's a good thing there was punch and cookies or the crowd would have really gotten out of control. Chief Puffensnuff was just about ready, and extremely relunctant I might add, to go and get him when the door opened up and in walked Sammy Snickersnack.

You could hear a pin drop as the crowd settled down and watched in a disappointed, disgusted way in his direction.

As he walked towards the stagein his sleeveless t-shirt waving his arms in the air exposing his hairy unkempt armpits, he exclaimed, "Well, here I is! The man of the hour. Your man is here for all to see and receive his award. Thank ya. Thank ya. Thank ya very much!"

He walked up the steps onto the stage and shook the Mayors hand. He grabbed the microphone and addressed the towns people.

"Thank you for inviting me to my party. Thank you for honoring me. I don't think there's a slob anywhere in the world today who is more choked up than I am right now. Wait a minute, I think I have a tear coming."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out one the most disgusting, dirtiest looking hankerchiefs you ever saw in your life and wiped that tear from his eye.

The crowd, dumbfounded and befuddled sat in utter disbelief and shock.

The Mayor took the quiet moment as an opportunity to interupt the "guest of honor".

"Uh...er uh... Mr. Snickersnack? I don't think you quite understand why you were called here tonight."

"Oh, I understand all to well," Sammy quipped back.

"You see, when I moved to Sweetsville ten years ago, I had always envisioned me as one of the best slobs anywhere, anytime. No one, and I mean no one would appreciate a slob like me except you all. You fine people love Halloween and so do I. You celebrate it for a month before the day itself. I celebrate it all year round. I love being a slob. And I love being a slob all year round. Yes I do."

The Mayor asked, "You mean to tell us that you are slob because of Halloween? It's your.. costume?"

"Why, yes it is," Sammy answered with a smile.

"But what about the smoke coming from your windows. And the spiders, and the spider webs and the bats hanging everywhere. And the shrunken heads and the horrible smell coming from you and your home?" The Mayor asked.

"Oh that," he said. "The smoke is from dry ice. It really makes my place look spooky. And when I added the spiders and webs and the bats in the trees and on the house, sometimes I'd look out the window and scare myself. Then I remember that I was the one who hung those things and they are just plastic. As for the shrunken heads, they are rotten apples and rotten pumpkins with eyes, nose and mouth I made. Sorry about the smell but some of that fruit is 10 years old. Everywhere I go, people treat me like a bum instead of a slob. But not here. Now, where's my Award of Appreciation or Distinction?"

Looking down with his hands on his Buccaneer hips, the Mayor just shook his head.

"Award? I'll give him the boot. The boot out of town." The Mayor thought to himself.

The crowd, still stunned, stood up and was going to really give it to him. A man dressed as a ghost yelled, "You're a bum and a slob!"

Sammy thanked the ghost and because the crowd was too loud and began pointing at him and screaming, and the Mayor pounding the table with the gavel, no one could hear him.

Chatty Cathy screamed out in a loud shrieking howl getting the crowds attention. "Let him talk please!" she demanded.

Sammy looked at Cathy Chatty and smiled not knowing what the problem was. But she smiled back at him and sat down as did everyone in the room.

Sammy said, "You all have no idea what living here in Sweetsville has done for me. But before you all give me my award, I have something to present to you all and the Town of Sweetsville."

He turned and faced the Mayor and reached deep down in his pocket. Everyone watched as he pulled out a check. It was made out to the Town of Sweetsville and it was made out for 100 million dollars. Thats right! That's what I said. I said 100 Million dollars. $100,000,000!

The Mayor stood up and told the crowd, "This check here is for 100 Million Dollars!"

Everyone sat motionless.

Now he had the towns attention.

Sammy continued on, "I'm a retired inventor and have been inventing things all my life and have been extremely successful. I have made millions of dollars at it making me a very, very rich man. This money is to improve the town and maybe, just maybe, extend Halloween into Thanksgiving."

The crowd went into a frenzy. They cheered. They cried. They high fived. They danced. Women fainted. Men were fainting too. They just couldn't believe it! Man, were they ever wrong about this dude.

The Mayor had to think quick. He patted him on the back, shook his hand and told Sammy his award hadn't come back from the award shop yet and he would personally drop it off himself. Sammy was delighted.

The Mayor then proclaimed the day before Halloween, 'Sammy Snickersnack Day' and told everyone, that for 100 million dollars, that he was personally going to rename the town to Slobsville and was going to order everyone to be a slob from now on the day before Halloween.

Not only was he going to do that, but he changed the towns motto from 'Live and let your neighbor be who they want to be!" to 'Live and be a Slob. It's OK in Slobsville!" No one had a problem with that and everyone agreed. They applauded the new proclamation, town name and motto change.

Everyone had gone up to Sammy Snickersnack to shake his hand and introduce themselves. They did this all night long until no one was left in the High School Gym. They gave him a big hug not even caring that he stunk so bad. Many just held their breath. Some held their nose. Sammy didn't care. He had long awaited this attention.

A few years later, and after much dating, he and Cathy Chatty got married and had two and a half a dozen Snickersnacks on their wedding night. No, not children. The snickers bar candy... duh. She made him get rid of all the rotten apples and pumpkins and fix all the windows. He didn't care cause he was in love. They lived happily ever after. The neighbors, who could now have dinner with the windows open also lived happily ever after.

Update: After a few years, many people who came to know and love the Snickersnack's had become slobs themselves. Even the Mayor and Police Chief became slobs.

Update: Cathy didn't mind her husband being a slob as long as he took a bath every day and used deordorant.

Update: CNN News reported that Slobsville, USA., was the worse place to live in the USA because of all the slobs that lived there. What do they know?

Moral: Treat all people with respect. Treat all people the way you want to be treated. Even if they stink and appear to be a slob. Ya never know. They may be rich and love Halloween.

The End of the Story and the Beginning of...

Sammy Snickersnack, The Happiest Slob in Slobsville, USA.

Chapter 1, click here.
Chapter 3, click here.