Mars, Inc.'s Snickers

And to cap off the copycat birthday lunch, I wanted to make Brian's favorite candy bar. Heck, it's my husband's favorite candy bar, too. When we were packing bags to go to the hospital to have Riley, I had CDs with babbling brooks, my yoga ball, three copies of my birth plan, and more. Jake had the phone list of people he was supposed to call as soon as we had the baby and five Snickers bars. No joke.

Let me say these were met with ooooos, awwwwws, and immense gratitude on the part of the birthday boy, but what a pain! I was up past midnight and up again before six to finish these. Smelling like chocolate before six in the morning is not my idea of a good time. But hearing Brian exclaim, "you made your own Snickers!" over and over again made it worth it.

Line a pan with parchment paper. After you make each layer, place it in the pan and stick it in the freezer to chill.

Layer One: Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Butterscotch

1 C dark chocolate
1/4 C butterscotch chips

1/2 C organic creamy peanut butter

Melt all of those together until smooth.

Layer Two: Nougat

1/4 C butter

1 C organic granulated sugar

1/4 C evaporated milk

1 1/2 C marshmallow creme (yes, I did buy a jar of Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme)

1 t vanilla

2 C roasted, salted peanuts

Bring 1/4 C butter, 1 C sugar, and 1/4 C evaporated milk to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes.

Take off stove and add 1 1/2 C marshmallow creme, 1/4 C creamy peanut butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2 C roasted, salted peanuts. Pour over first layer that was chilling then place back in freezer.

Layer Three: Sea Salt Caramel

1 C organic granulated sugar

1/2 C packed organic brown sugar

1/2 C ginger syrup
1/2 evaporated milk
1 C organic heavy whipping cream
1/2 C butter
1 t sea salt

In a medium-size pot, combine sugar, brown sugar, ginger syrup, evaporated milk, whipping cream, butter and sea salt. Monitor the heat of the mixture with a candy thermometer while stirring. When the thermometer reaches 240 degrees remove the pot from the heat. Pour over previous layer that was chilling then place back in freezer.

Layer Four: Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Butterscotch (same as the first)

Place this in the fridge to set-up overnight.

Cut into whatever size bars you want. I did most of them bite-size, two bites really, but made one 'Birthday-Boy'-sized bar just for Brian. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes. In the meantime, melt dark chocolate in a double boiler. Dip Snickers to coat. Let cool.

*Update 11/9/2012: I added this to Katherine Martinelli's Comfort Food linky party.*