butterfly bakery blog

I personally believe that almost anything with chocolate tastes better with hazelnuts, so of course I’m making a hazelnut snickers bar! They have two layers; a rich shortbread base and a chewy, decedent hazelnut caramel. Sprinkled with a generous amount of flaky salt, these bars make the perfect healthier dessert.

My version is vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free so everyone can enjoy 🙂

JUMP TO:
• What you’ll need
• The history of snickers bars
• Recipe
• Notes

What you’ll need

• Almond flour – make sure to use flour rather than almond meal, they are ground differently and will not produce the same outcome.

• Coconut oil – this is used in both the caramel and the base, it works perfectly as it hardens in the fridge creating the perfect texture. In the base it could be substituted for butter.

• Maple syrup – this is our natural sweetener so I recommend using pure maple syrup. You could also use another liquid sweetener such as honey.

• Cashew butter – this makes the base a little more rich and tender, you can also sub for hazelnut butter or almond butter.

• Salt – this is essential for balancing out the sweetness, I use fine sea salt in the base and caramel, then flaky salt to top the bars off.

• Hazelnut butter – this is for the caramel, be sure to use roasted hazelnut butter as it has a much richer flavour. You can buy it or make it yourself by roasting hazelnuts and simply blending until smooth. If you wanted to make regular snickers bars, you can use peanut butter.

• Hazelnuts – I add in a few chopped and roasted hazelnuts to the caramel to really mimic the texture of a snickers bar. You can skip this if you prefer.

• Chocolate – I prefer a darker chocolate to balance out the sweetness, to keep this recipe refined-sugar free, I like to use Hu, Raw Halo, or Ombar.

The history of snickers bars

The now famous snickers bars originated in 1930 after being created by the Mars company, specifically Frank and Ethel Mars. After experimenting and finally producing the bar, it was named ‘Snickers’ after Ethels favourite horse.

It was initially sold for 5 cents, and by 1967 the bar was renamed to ‘Marathon’. In 1990 it was given back its original title, and from then on the snickers bar has become one of the most best-selling chocolate bars in the world.

Hazelnut snickers bars
prep time: 20 mins / serves: 8 / chill time: 2h

INGREDIENTS:

base
• 2 cups almond flour
• 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp cashew butter*
• 1/2 tsp salt

caramel
• 2/3 cups hazelnut butter
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup chopped roasted hazelnuts

• 2 bars of vegan dark chocolate
• flaky salt for topping

METHOD:

• Preheat the oven to 180c / 160c (fan oven)
• Line a loaf pan with parchment paper
• To a large bowl add the base ingredients and mix to form a crumbly dough
• Press into the lined pan and bake for 10 minutes until golden
• Place into the freezer whilst making the caramel
• Add the hazelnut butter, maple syrup and coconut oil to a pot
• Place on the stove on medium heat and whisk until fully melted
• Whisk in the salt and chopped hazelnuts
• Pour over the base and freeze for a couple hours until solid
• Slice into 8 bars
• Melt the chocolate and let cool slightly
• Dip each bar and drizzle with some extra chocolate
• Top with flaky sea salt, let the chocolate harden in the fridge
• Enjoy!

NOTES

• * the cashew butter can be substituted for hazelnut/almond butter
• The bars are best stored and enjoyed from the fridge
• It’s important to let the melted chocolate cool slightly to prevent the caramel layer from melting when dipping
• If you want to make regular snickers bars, this recipe works perfectly by substituting peanut butter and chopped roasted peanuts