Day 6 of Halloween week healthy candy alternatives made with 100% real food ingredients.  So far we’ve tackled the Crunch Bar, Almond Joy, Butterfinger, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and the Twix Bar.

Today, it’s the Snickers Bar.

The Snickers Bar we all know of is loaded with food-like product ingredients like corn syrup, processed sugar, hydrogenated soy bean oil, artificial flavors, genetically modified ingredients and more.  You can view the ingredients here.

This real food recipe remix for the Snickers uses 100% real food ingredients and is paleo & vegan-friendly, gluten free and dairy free.

Chocolate Ingredients:

1/2 cup melted cacao butter

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

3/4 cup cacao powder

2 tablespoons maple butter

1 tablespoon coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon pink salt

Base layer ingredients:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked 3-4 hours

1 cup hazelnut or almond flour

2 tablespoons maple butter

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tablespoon coconut milk

1/8 teaspoon pink salt

Caramel ingredients:

8 medjool dates, soaked 15-20 minutes

1/3 cup almond flour

1-2 tablespoons maple butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons coconut oil, soft or melted

1 tablespoon coconut milk

1/8 teaspoon pink salt (use more if you like salty caramel)

1/2 cup crushed raw almonds or peanuts

Note:  I mention 1-2 tablespoons maple butter…taste it to your liking. Dates are sweet.  Maple butter is sweet. At 1 tablespoon it was sweet to me, at two it was borderline if I put another drop in a little too sweet for my palate.  I recommend 1 tablespoon first, and then just taste it after it’s all blended.  If it needs more, add and blend in.

Directions:

1.  Add all your base layer ingredients to a blender and mix until everything is incorporated well.

2. After you’ve got your mixture, you want to add it to a pan or dish that will mold it into the depth size of pieces you want.  If you see in picture above, I used the lid from the top of my coffee bean jar… doesn’t have to be rocket science cooking, use what works for you.

3.  Line your pan or dish with tin foil and add your base layer mixture (see picture above).  Press it in so it molds and then add to the freezer.

4.  Now we can start our second layer, the caramel & raw nut topping.

5.  Add all your caramel ingredients to a blender except the crushed raw almonds or peanuts.  My blender has a 60-second on/off cycle on it, and I did a good 5 or 6 cycles using my spatula after each time to scrape down the sides of the blender.  Mix it real well.

6.  Once you’ve got your caramel done, pull out your base layer dish from the freezer and add your caramel layer to the top.

7.  After you’ve added your caramel layer, add your crushed raw nuts to the top and press them into the caramel… see picture above, I did a peanut caramel topping and a more paleo-friendly almond caramel topping (peanuts are part of the legume family)

8.  Add your dish or pan back into the freezer.  Now we’ll start the chocolate sauce.

9.  The chocolate sauce ingredients for all these candies we’ve been doing all week is the same:

Start by melting your cacao butter and coconut oil in a sauce pan.

When doing this only melt it on lowest heat.  I even recommend having the sauce pan barely on the burner, as well as taking it off the burner and letting it slowly melt as the pan heats up.  We want to keep the nutrient contents intact as much as possible and raw cacao butter begins to melt between 95-100 degrees (that’s why chocolate melts in our mouth).

After your cacao butter and coconut oil is melted, add all your other ingredients off of the heat and whisk together until all incorporated.

10.  When your chocolate sauce is ready, pull out your pan or dish from the freezer.  Remove from dish and slice into the size candies you want.

11.  Add your Snickers pieces to a rack with a pan underneath it.  Now we’ll start to add the chocolate sauce.

12.  You can either spoon, dip or pour your chocolate sauce over.  I chose to pour to save some time (see picture below).

13.  Once all your Snickers are coated to your liking, place back in the freezer and let setup for a good 12-24 hours.

That’s it!  I keep them stored in the freezer and pull one out and let it sit for a few minutes before I eat it.

And remember, just because these are healthier 100% real food alternatives to the chemical food-like product concoctions… this still is candy.  So as always, my recommendation is to enjoy in moderation and stick to your metabolic type ratios and an 80/20 lifestyle for your most optimal health.  Personally, I keep candies like this for Reward Day, which for me is Friday evening to Saturday evening when I would enjoy one.

Enjoy!