You can run, you can hide, but you can’t escape…
TOO. MUCH. CANDY.
I came home from a trip to find the mountain of Halloween candy right where I’d left it on the dining room table. Luckily, there was a solution – Candy Bar Bars from Eagle Brand.
The recipe looked familiar at first, but after reading it twice I realized I’d never tried it. And even if I had, it’s one of those recipes that’s different every time because you can swap out candy. I used a mix of Reese’s and Snickers.
Texture
The crust is soft and crumbly but sturdy enough not to fall apart. And despite the ingredients, the bars aren’t overly sweet. One thing to note is the bars are made in a 15×10 inch pan. I am partial to my 13×9 inch pan (she wrote, sinking into an abyss of baking geekiness) but since I’d made that jelly roll last week and had pulled the 15×10 inch pan out from under the mountain of other pans, I decided to use it as the recipe directs. I’m warming up to my 15×10 inch pan.
Candy Bar Bars
12 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats, quick cooking type
1 egg
1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated milk)
4 cups chopped candy bars – a mixture of Reese’s and Snickers works well
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 15×10 inch rimmed metal pan (jelly roll) with parchment paper or non-stick foil.
In large bowl, combine butter and peanut butter; add brown sugar, vanilla and baking soda and beat well. Stir in flour and oats. Set aside about 1 1/3 cups of the peanut butter mixture.
Stir egg into remaining peanut butter mixture in bowl. Using wet hands, pat into a baking pan – the layer will seem pretty thin and you’ll probably worry that you don’t have enough cookie batter to cover the bottom and use for topping. But don’t worry. Bake for 15 minutes.
Pour condensed milk over the crust. Stir together reserved peanut butter mixture and chopped candy bars; sprinkle over all and don’t get too tied up in using exactly 4 cups of candy. Use more, use less.
Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Set on a cooling rack and cool completely. When bars are absolutely, completely cool, go ahead and cut. Store leftovers loosely covered at room temperatures.
4 Dozen Bars
A 13×9 inch pan can be used instead, but unless you don’t mind thick bars, you might want to use a little less of everything.
Anna
Hi Kelly,
It freezes pretty well. If you have time, you might want to avoid freezing altogether and just bake it a few days ahead of time. It ages well ;). But freezing is okay too.
Kelly
Quick question Anna… have you ever had any luck freezing biscotti?
Johnny
Welcome back Anna, great idea for the disposal of the mountains of candy! We all know I went trick or treating.
I was a chef!
Shannon
Anna,
I’ve been reading your blog for months and absolutely love it! I always get excited to log on and see what you are cooking each day. I was watching the Food Network on Sat. night and the Pillsbury Bakeoff show from last year came on. I was doing a few things at the time and was only half listening until I heard them talk about a contestant from Texas. I stopped to watch and when they showed your blog I almost fell over. How exciting to get to watch you win. You are a cooking inspiration! Thank you for sharing your talent with me!
Blessings to you,
Shannon
Amanda
I’ve been looking for a good candy bar recipe! I will definetly try these out. Thanks!
Laurel
Anna,
Welcome back from Chicago. I hope you had a good time.
On Saturday I made your Chocolate-Peanut-Toffee Bars with the peanut butter cookie mix and the potato chips. My son, quite happily, brought them to work. On Sunday I baked a batch of apple crisp cookies (with raisins, dried apple pieces, and an envelope of apple cider mix) and a batch of WW peanut butter cookies that contained chocolate-covered peanuts.
Your blog is quite the inspiration.
Laurel
Anna
Welcome to Cookie Madness, Cheryl!
I just added your archive to my blogroll because I can tell we appreciate the same type of recipes. In fact, I’ve already spotted 3 desserts in your collection that I want to make very, very soon.
http://ideascomefrombrownies.blogspot.com/
….now I need to go to the store.
Cheryl St.John
Oh my goodness! I will have to spare a few candy bars so I can try this. No leftovers at our place.
My cousin found your blog and sent me a link because she knows how I love this stuff. I just started a recipe archive of my own, so it’s not nearly as hefty as yours, but do come check it out:
http://ideascomefrombrownies.blogspot.com/
I am bookmarking you and will be back often!
Thanks for the calories!