Filed under: Bars / Brownies & Blondies
June 16, 2021

Chocolate Caramel Peanut Brownies

Fudgy brownie filled with crunchy peanuts, topped with homemade salted caramel and wrapped in snappy dark chocolate. It’s like a copycat snickers peanut brownie square - but better.

4.59 from 12 votes
Yield: 10
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snickers brownies

Fudgy brownie filled with crunchy peanuts, topped with homemade salted caramel and wrapped in snappy dark chocolate. It’s like a copycat snickers peanut brownie square – but better.

 

 

 

Copycat Snickers Brownies 

In January of this year, Mars, Inc. released a new candy bar: the snickers peanut brownie squares. It’s a brownie, filled with crunchy peanuts, topped with their signature caramel and wrapped in chocolate. I took one look at the image of it on Google and said, Imma do it. 

The brownie part? Ten minutes. The caramel, another ten. Waited awhile for the caramel to set (about an hour) then cut it into squares (took some ‘sample’ bites, promptly got badgered for bites by my family) then and dipped it in melted, tempered chocolate. I placed the tray in the fridge so the chocolate would set quick. With the chocolate firm but the brownie and caramel still warm, they were really, really good. Next day, I took one out of the fridge… and they were, oh my god, absolutely phenomenal. 

 

Better than a copycat recipe for snickers brownie squares 

So here’s the thing, I don’t actually know what the bar in the stores tastes like because I never bought it. I don’t love candy bars. So this recipe is not in exact copycat style, instead it’s my brownie recipe, covered in my caramel recipe and…. as a standalone amazing fudgy brownie filled with peanuts (you can also do almonds!), topped with caramel and chocolate, they are AMAZING. You are going to love them!  

 

 

Snickers Brownies from my best fudgy brownies

It took me a few years to develop my signature brownie recipe and if you’ve made any of the brownie recipes on this site (thick cocoa, shiny top, oreo meringue, etc) you’ve seen a variation of it. To get it to be more fudgy and chocolatey I use a lot less flour, dutch process cocoa and I employ a simple heating technique to melt some of the sugar before the batter goes into the oven. Recently I’ve scraped the double boiler method in favor of the microwave to make it even quicker and more efficient. 

For these peanut brownies I used the same recipe (reduced by 25% so they wouldn’t be as thick) and added peanuts. I wished I had added more but I’ll make sure you get enough for yours! 

Also, chilled brownies are THE BEST. These get so fudgy and dense in the fridge so you’ll see instructions here to keep them cold. 

 

snickers brownies

 

How to make firm but creamy caramel 

There are a ton of caramel recipes out there but this one was specifically developed for bars, it’s buttery and sweet but also thick enough to set on the brownies and still chewy. It’s wonderful! 

To make it you’ll heat sugar in a large pot (I use a 2 quart pot) and let it cook over medium heat until it first turns liquid then caramelizes. Once it begins to caramelize you can stir it to get an even caramelization, as soon as it’s done you’ll add the remaining ingredients and stir until the caramel is smooth. I let mine cool a bit because caramel is HOT and I didn’t want it to affect the texture of the brownies. Then smooth it out and let it set. 

 

Dark chocolate coating 

After about an hour (use the freezer if you need to), and once the caramel is firm cut the brownies into squares/small rectangles and set them on some parchment paper. Melt some dark chocolate (Snickers likely uses milk chocolate, but on top of the caramel that’d be too sweet for me, you do you though!) but ensure you do it right so it doesn’t get out of temper. Then, dip! You can dip it fully in but some brownie bits might get in the melted chocolate so I had mine on a fork and spooned the chocolate over it.

 

How to make Chocolate Caramel Peanut Brownies 

  1. Make & bake the brownies (one bowl, ten mins to make, 30 to bake) 
  2. Cool the brownies 
  3. Make the caramel (cook sugar, add rest of ingredients) 
  4. Cool slightly, spread over brownies 
  5. Cut brownies into squares, dip in melted chocolate 

 

 

Recipe for Snickers Brownies



Chocolate Caramel Peanut Brownies "Snickers Brownies"

Fudgy brownie filled with crunchy peanuts, topped with homemade salted caramel and wrapped in snappy dark chocolate.
copycat snickers brownies
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Yields: 10
4.59 from 12 votes

Ingredients

Peanut Brownie

  • ¾ cups or 170g butter cold
  • 1 ½ cups or 300g granulated sugar
  • ¾ cups or 75g dutch process cocoa
  • 3 eggs
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup or 32g all purpose flour
  • ¾ cups roasted peanuts or slivered almonds toasted, not raw

Caramel Topping

  • 1 cup 200g sugar
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • ½ cup or 113 butter can use salted here, reduce fine sea salt to 1/4 tsp
  • 1/2 teaspoons flaked sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Coating

  • 300 g dark chocolate finely chopped (70%)

Method

Make the brownies

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8×8” baking pan with two sheets of parchment paper crosswise so you have overhang on all four sides.
  • Set the butter in a heatproof bowl and melt it for 1 minute in the microwave (if it starts sputtering, take it out immediately).
  • Add the sugar and whisk it in, then return the bowl to the microwave for another minute.
  • Whisk in the cocoa and return the mix to the microwave for another 30 seconds. The mixture should be hot to touch.
  • Add the salt & vanilla, whisk well. Add the eggs and quickly whisk for at least a full minute, until you have a smooth, shiny batter.
  • Fold in the flour and the peanuts then pour batter into the pan. Bake for 30 -35 minutes, until the center is puffy. It will fall as it cools.

Make the caramel

  • Have the butter, heavy cream, salt and vanilla ready as well as a heat proof jar or bowl.
  • Add the sugar to a 2 quart pot and turn the heat to medium. You can add a squeeze of lemon and stir it in, it helps prevent crystallization. Let it first melt, then as you see it begin to caramelize, stir with a wooden spoon until all of the sugar is melted and fully caramelized.
  • Turn the heat down and add the heavy cream slowly while stirring (take care as it will boil up). Add all of the butter and stir until smooth. Turn off the heat and add the salt and vanilla.
  • Pour the caramel into the heatproof jar or bowl and let it cool just for a few minutes, so it’s not too hot going onto the brownie.
  • Spread the caramel over the brownies in an even layer and let chill until the caramel is mostly firm (about an hour).
  • Lay out a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and slice the brownies. If the caramel is at room temperature and not too firm it will slide onto the sides of the brownie to give more of a coating.

Temper the chocolate & coat the brownies

  • Set a pot filled ⅓ of the way with water over medium heat. Once it begins to simmer, set a glass bowl over it (one that doesn’t touch the bottom) and place ⅔ of the chocolate in it. Once it begins to melt, stir it until it’s almost fully melted then remove from heat and add the rest of the chocolate.
  • Alternatively, heat most of the chocolate in the microwave until it's almost but not fully melted then add the rest. Stir until smooth.
  • Dip the brownies caramel facing into the melted chocolate.
  • Place the brownies on the parchment paper and let the chocolate set until firm. If it has been tempered properly, it will firm up in just a few minutes.
  • Store in the fridge or at room temperature in an airtight container.

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Recipe Reviews




  1. 5 stars
    This recipe is wonderful. I have made these before but with pecans/walnuts and both were so good (not a peanut fan). Follow the process, and this recipe yields three beautifully textured components, and its adaptability is great. Today, I made this in a 9×13 to make thinner bars (baked less time) with macadamias and milk chocolate on the top — wow!

  2. 5 stars
    Wow! Wow! Wow! Just made these. Bringing them to a party tomorrow but of course had to do the required taste test. YUM. Can’t wait to share.

  3. 5 stars
    Woah, these are intensely good! A million times better than any store bought candy bar! Brownies never seem to be fudgy enough, but these are SOO perfectly fudgy. I will be running to make all of Sam’s other brownie recipes now!

  4. 5 stars
    I’ve made this recipe at least 3 times now and every time it just gets better. This is my ideal dessert – sweet, salty & chocolatey. The last time I made it, I used toasted pecans instead because I had no peanuts. It worked great & I loved the extra crunch. I was also thinking about adding peanut butter to the caramel like the peanut butter marshmallows.

    • 5 stars
      Like you, but less patient, I instantly needed to peanut butter this caramel, so started with 2 tbl of your basic sweetened supermarket creamy pb deal, cut back the heavy cream from 3 to 2 tbl and eyeballed the butter at 7 tbl rather than the full stick / half cup.

      I also have several times committed the grievous sin of not slicing these brownies into delicate single serving portions before bathing in lashings of caramel and chocolate, but just layered each straight into the slab’s original square pan (at home we call this method “not-for-company layer cake”), chilling as I went, resulting in a larger layer of caramel and chocolate.

      If you go that route and keep these gems refrigerated as suggested, I think you can stick with the original portions of fat and fat (cream + butter) and add up to several scant dollops of looser processed nutbutter or more generous dollops of a “natural” one to little deleterious effect, particularly if you don’t mind unpretty slices with a softer caramel bite.

      I kind of enjoy the contradictions of a firm brownie, a barely yielding cold fudge-like ganache, and an almost still runny nutty caramel. Less painful on the teeth, for one thing. I’ve done trial runs replacing the caramel with either a peanut butter nougat or a peanut brittle paste mousseline, and I definitely prefer the textures of the original caramel or my pb method. The creme mousseline definitely brought a touch more crunch, quite delicate, if that’s what you’re looking for.

      • What a fantastic review! I haven’t actually made these yet, but after all of these lovely comments, they’re on my roster for next weekend– WITH some peanut butter!!

  5. 5 stars
    Wow… i made a mistake in tempering the chocolate. It never gets hard. My mistake

    This brownies is really good! No mixer needed so i didn’d need to clean up more. So easy and i swear i think i ate half of the pan myself

    Can’t wait to repeat

  6. 5 stars
    Another hit. My husband said it was the best thing I have baked. Thank you for another great, easy but Impressive bake!