Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

homemade payday candy bars

(2 ratings)
Recipe by
Fran Miller
Parkersburg, WV

This is one of the EASIEST homemade copycat candy recipes out there. The prep is the longest part because you have to remove all of the wrappers from a 14 oz. bag of caramels, but if you have an 8 year old "sous chef," he can be unwrapping while you're chopping peanuts & measuring marshmallows, and your prep & cooking times will be cut down to about 12 minutes. Then you just have to wait 2 hours for the candy to cool before you can cut it into pieces. Sounds about right for a game of Monopoly with your sous chef. I call the race car! =^..^=

(2 ratings)
yield serving(s)
prep time 5 Min
cook time 10 Min
method Stove Top

Ingredients For homemade payday candy bars

  • 2 1/2 c
    peanuts, chopped after measuring; divided
  • 14 oz
    bag of caramels, unwrapped
  • 2 Tbsp
    water
  • 1 c
    mini marshmallows

How To Make homemade payday candy bars

  • 1
    Prepare an 8" square pan by misting it with cooking spray, lining it with parchment paper (extending over 1 inch on all sides), then misting the parchment paper with cooking spray.
  • 2
    Chop up half of the peanuts and spread over the bottom of the prepared pan. Chop up the rest of the peanuts & set aside for later.
  • 3
    In a medium pan, melt the unwrapped caramels, water, and mini marshmallows together over LOW-MEDIUM heat, stirring constantly off the bottom to keep the caramels from scorching. This will take about 8 minutes, so you might want to check out your newest cookbook or a few pages of Dogzilla with your sous chef...
  • 4
    ...until the caramel mixture looks like this.
  • 5
    Pour the melted caramel mixture over the chopped nuts...
  • 6
    ...and smooth out.
  • 7
    Top with the rest of the nuts, pressing them firmly into the caramel mixture like this. (If you use your fingers, just don't touch the hot caramel mixture! Don't ask me how I know this.)
  • 8
    It should look like this when you're done. Set aside for about 2 hours to cool.
  • 9
    Remove the candy from the pan, using the edges of the parchment paper.
  • 10
    Cut into bars or pieces with a really sharp knife.
  • 11
    Store in an airtight container, IF you have any leftovers after you share with your sous chef & any other kitchen helpers who wander in. =^..^=

Categories & Tags for Homemade Payday Candy Bars:

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT