I finally got around to making some vegan chocolate bars just in time for Halloween!
These have a homemade gooey caramel, lots of roasted peanuts, and a cookie layer base you’re going to be obsessed with. You can call them vegan Snickers if you want. But I decided that I didn’t exactly copy a Snickers true to form, so it’s open to interpretation. But I can attest to eating many many many Snickers in my pre-vegan days and these are 10000% better than the real thing. So there!
Watch how I made them in the video below or keep scrolling for the recipe.
vegan caramel peanut chocolate bars
Are you ready to sink your teeth into these incredible vegan caramel peanut chocolate bars?! I’ve eaten my fair share of Snickers and trust me, these are way better!
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Servings: chocolate bars
Ingredients
cookie bar base
- 1 C rolled oats (not quick cooking), ground in a food processor to make oat flour (equals ¾ C oat flour)
- ¾ C all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ C granulated sugar
- ¼ C packed brown sugar
- ¼ C + 2 tablespoon melted vegan butter
caramel peanut filling
- ½ C vegan butter
- 1 C packed brown sugar
- ⅔ C canned coconut cream
- ¼ C natural peanut butter
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ C roasted and salted peanuts
chocolate coating & garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Line a 7" x 7" or 8" x 8" baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, pulse oats to flour. Then add all-purpose flour, sugars, sea salt, and melted butter and process until everything is combined evenly and the mixture is crumbly. You should be able to pinch it together and it relatively holds the shape.
- Press the dough mixture into the bottom of the parchment lined baking pan to form an even layer.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the edges are just golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and cool completely in the baking pan on a wire rack.
- Meanwhile, make the caramel filling by heating a medium sauce pan over medium heat with the vegan butter, brown sugar, coconut cream, peanut butter, and sea salt. Whisk together to combine everything as the mixture melts together and becomes smooth.
- Once it starts bubbling steadily, lower the heat but keep it on a low bubble while you whisk constantly for about 3 to 4 minutes. It should be thicker but still run off the whisk. It will be coating and sticking to the sides of the saucepan. Do not heat it further than this. Remove it from the heat and fold in the roasted peanuts. Continue stirring to cool it down. Let it rest for 15 minutes before pouring over the mostly cooled cookie base.
- Pour the caramel on top of the cookie base and move the peanuts around if they appear to be uneven at all in the caramel. Let it mostly cool at room temperature before refrigerating for at least 24 hours or until firm to the touch.
- Once chilled and the caramel feels mostly solid to the touch, you can slice into bars. It will be soft but solid. Remove the whole thing from the pan with the edges of the parchment. Pull the sides of the parchment down. Cut in half and then each half can be sliced into 7 x 1-inch bars.
- Keep the bars refrigerated until ready to coat in the chocolate coating.
- To melt the chocolate wafers, place them in a heat safe glass bowl over a sauce pan with a bit of boiling water. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat.
- To coat the bars, have a wire rack placed over a baking sheet or a sheet of wax paper on a baking sheet to lay out the coated bars. Dip the top, sides, and ends of the bar in the chocolate and allow the excess to drip off. Place bottom down on the wire rack or wax paper. Before the chocolate cools too much sprinkle with a bit of Maldon salt flakes on the top.
- Once all the bars are coated, place the baking sheet in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Then you can go in and coat the bottom of the bars, if desired, and lay the bars on their side to allow the bottom to drip off and solidify.
- You can serve immediately or keep refrigerated until ready to serve. I doubt they will last this long, but you can keep them in a container in the fridge for 2 to 3 weeks.
Notes
Instead of coconut cream, you can also use the thick cream scooped from a can of refrigerated full-fat coconut milk.
Danielle Jeaurond
Oh my god. I MUST try this!
Tyler Mendes
Woah, that peanut butter caramel is out of this world. As I was pouring onto the crust, I was like "one scoop for the pan.....and a little scoop for me...." UGH I can't wait until tomorrow to finish these bars!
Maya Dib
Making it right now! The 24h wait has started... This is the hardest part hahahaha. It's a surprisingly easy recipe yet it's so impressive and looks absolutely divine!!! I felt like a chocolatier making it hahaha
Lauren Toyota
I know I did too BUT we can be more lax 😀
Hélène G.
Same as Maya, just finished the 1st step and it already tastes awsome! Can't wait to finalize the recipe!!
Maya Dib
Just wanted to give an update because I recently finished eating them hahaa! They lasted a bit over a week. The first 3 days I was eating like 4 bars a day but then I realized I was getting way too full before the next meal and my digestion was not the best 😛 So I calmed down and ate 1 bar a day after that. EVERYONE I gave this to went NUTS! It's SO GOOD!!!
Lauren Toyota
haha I know I TOO am addicted. I have to give them all away 😀 I have a whole other tray in the fridge I haven't cut and coated in chocolate yet from the day I shot this video HAHAH
Emily Hagans
Hey Lauren! I love all of your recipes, you are the bomb. I really want to make these for a Christmas party but i haven't been able to find any vegan chocolate melting wafers. Is it okay to use vegan chocolate chips instead? Or is there another way to get a creamy chocolate coating without those smooth melting wafers? HALP.
Lauren Toyota
it is ok to use them, but your heating time just might be different. They tend to already be waxier and not ideal for melting and coating
Cristal
Hey Lauren, I'm thinking about making a lot of these for a party. To save on time I'd like to make them a week prior, do you think I could freeze these and defrost them for the party?
Thanks!
Lauren Toyota
yea definitely!
Scott
Loved these and no they didn't last long around my house. Made them for my wife on here birthday since her favorite candy bar was a snickers.
img
Hi,
in my country there is no such thing as vegan butter any substitution ideas?
Lizzy
Can these be kept out of the fridge? I'd want to be able to ship them to someone using two day shipping!
Lauren Toyota
I would not ship these, personally. They're very delicate and need to be refrigerated ideally
Mariana
I've made this recipe several times now and it was always amazing and people ask for more. I will definitely do them again and I love that this recipe goes without dates. They're one of my favorite recipes by Lauren. Best wishes from Germany.
Lauren Toyota
YESSS!