Snickery Squares
58 comments » 
When I received Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours
Believe it or not, caramelizing the peanuts was my very first time working with homemade caramel in any form. A new kitchen conquest, complete! It was easier and less intimidating than I anticipated. I just followed the directions to a “T” and had no problems whatsoever. The result was a batch of unbelievably addictive caramel peanuts that made me want to go to the ballpark and enjoy a box of Cracker Jacks.
Speaking of addictive, dulce de leche could have its photo in the dictionary next to the word. If you haven’t tried it before, you simply must. It is milk caramel and is made by slowly heating sweetened milk. There are directions on the web for making your own dulce de leche from sweetened condensed milk, but I find it easier to just buy a jar. Some people have found it at their grocery store without a problem (apparently the most common location is in the International – Mexican/Hispanic aisle), but in all of the trips to countless grocery stores I have made, I have never found it at any of them. I buy mine at a small Italian grocery market, which always has it in stock. So long story short, you may have to do some searching for dulce de leche, but it is well worth the trouble!
This recipe is a relatively easy one to put together, even though it includes multiple steps. The peanuts don’t take very long at all to caramelize and once spread out on the pan, they cooled quite quickly. I would estimate an hour or so, start to finish (not including the time in the refrigerator to set the bars). Since the dulce de leche is a little on the soft side, I found that these were the best straight from the freezer (I refrigerated to set, then cut into squares and stored in tupperware in the freezer). Neither the crust nor the filling froze completely, and they were perfectly chilled. The ganache topping did crack when bitten into, but candy bars aren’t made for neatness, now are they?
Snickery Squares
Yield: 16 squares
Prep Time: 45 minutes (active), 3 hours (inactive)
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1 large egg yolk, lightly beatenFor the Filling:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons water
1½ cups salted peanuts
1½ cups dulce de lecheFor the Topping:
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, at room temperatureDirections:
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square pan and put it on a baking sheet.
2. To make the crust, toss the flour, granulated sugar, confectioners' sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Toss in the pieces of cold butter and pulse about 12 times, until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Pour the yolk over the ingredients and pulse until the dough forms clumps and curds - stop before the dough comes together in a ball.
3. Turn the dough into the buttered pan and gently press it evenly across the bottom of the pan. Prick the dough all over with a fork and slide the sheet into the oven.
4. Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it takes on just a little color around the edges. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature before filling.
5. To make the filling, have a parchment or silicone mat-lined baking sheet ready, as well as a long-handled wooden spoon. Put the granulated sugar and water in a 2-quart saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Keeping the heat fairly high, continue to cook the sugar, without stirring, until it just starts to color. Toss in the peanuts and immediately start stirring. Keep stirring, to coat the peanuts with the sugar. Within a few minutes, they will be covered with sugar and turn white - keep stirring until the sugar turns back into caramel. When the peanuts are coated with a nice deep amber caramel, remove the pan from the heat and turn the nuts out onto the baking sheet, using the wooden spoon to spread them out as best you can. Cool the nuts to room temperature.
6. When they are cool enough to handle, separate the nuts or break them into small pieces. Divide the nuts in half. Keep half of the nuts whole or in large pieces for the filling, and finely chop the other half for the topping.
7. Spread the dulce de leche over the shortbread base, leaving a ½-inch border around the edges. Sprinkle the whole candied peanuts over the dulce de leche.
8. To make the topping, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water or in a microwave, using a low power setting. Remove the chocolate from the heat and gently stir in the butter, stirring until it is fully blended into the chocolate.
9. Pour the chocolate over the dulce de leche, smoothing it with a long metal icing spatula, then sprinkle the finely chopped candied peanuts on top. Place the pan in the refrigerator to set the topping, about 20 minutes; if you'd like to serve the squares cold, keep them refrigerated for at least 3 hours before cutting.
10. Cut into 16 bars. Store covered for 2 days at room temperature, or refrigerate for 5 days.
(Recipe adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours
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These look amazing!! I had no idea you could overcome a peanut allergy. Glad you did…because you’d be missing out!
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OMG YUM!!!! And I gotta say, it’s things like this that make me think I’m glad to have my chicken allergy rather than a nut allergy!
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That’s pretty neat you could overcome a peanut allergy! These look really good, so lucky you!
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These look soooo good! I love snickers, but I know I’ll love these more.
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I`ll do it for certain! it`s great!
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I’ve been wanting to make these for so long! I’m glad to hear they are relatively simple…I’m gonna have to give them a try!
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My hubs is allergic to nuts, so I guess I will have to make these all for myself. Bummer:)
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These LOOK so GOOD!!!! I just might have to try to make them this weekend!
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Oh my gosh those look so good! I’m not a huge fan of peanuts though.. Maybe I can try them with walnuts, pecans, or another nut?
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Wow, now this is how you do a yummy dessert. I’m lucky to not be allergic to anything, but I have a friend who can’t have anything good… I am so glad I am not her, haha.
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I have this book and the few things I’ve made from it have been great. Will have to try it. Your pictures make me want to have some now!
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This looks amazing. Way to reinvent snickers! Will try soon!
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Good job on your first time with homemade caramel. Looks SUPER tasty! I already added it to my ‘must bake’ list.
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O.M.G. This is similar to a pie I’ve been trying to re-create! Snickers pie, with a cheesecake filling layer, but no nuts (crossing my fingers that my son outgrows his allergy, then there will be nuts for sure!) I made one just this week, and it wasn’t *quite* there yet, but I’ll try your crust, and maybe the dulce de leche option… hmmm…
Looks sooooo yummy! Especially the caramelized nuts… mmm
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What a dessert…the dulce de leche pretty much seals the deal.
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I keep staring at the picture of these Snickery Squares…they look sooooo good!
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What a delicious way to celebrate being allergy-free! Congratulations for shaking that allergy and more congrats for doing such a great job on the cookies.
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Michelle on May 6th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Thank you Dorie! This really is a genius recipe, you rock!
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Could I move in next door to you? Caramelized peanuts, dulce de leche, bittersweet chocolate and a cookie crust? These are ALL of my favorite things
And yes, I’ve often dreamt of swimming in a pool of dulce de leche! It may make me sound like a crazy person but hey! it’s dulce de leche!
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I FINALLY got that book for Christmas this past year and this is one of the recipes I have bookmarked! Now I’m going to be forced to make it, because you have made it utterly irresistible looking!
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Wishing I wasn’t allergic to peanuts/nuts right now.
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I have this cookbook too and I love it!! I haven’t made these bars yet though…they look so good!!
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Father’s day has come early for my dad. He LOVES Snickers. Will have to make this recipe this weekend!
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Wowza those look unbelievable!
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you have GOT to be kidding me with those things! i almost licked the screen but someone walked up behind me…
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These really look insanely delectable! I may have to make them….tonight!
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Wow, these look amazing! I was surprised about how easy it is to make caramel at home too!
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I have made these and they are so yummy, glad you got to enjoy these..
sweetlife
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Oh, HOW could you do this to my waistline?!?!? Wow…they look scrumptious!
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Yum!!
I love snickers and I would definitely love these snickery squares!
Delicious!
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You…are…killing…me! WANT NOW. Huge fan of a Snickers, but an ever bigger fan of these. WOW!
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Yum! I love that you eat these from the freezer. I love most bars, cookies, etc from the freezer best, Your squares look beautiful!
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LOVED these when I made them as a TWD rewind! I’ve never seen that jarred caramel. It looks better than the dulce de leche in a can.
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These look so good! I bet they are great with a glass of cold milk!
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No Nut allergies here…for which I am thankful. I am however allergic to eggs but there is such a small amount it actually might be worth risking a two day tummy ache!
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Congratulations on getting over the allergy. These look amazing! I love snickers, I’m sure I’ll love these!
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These are over the top, out of this world fabulous! I can’t wait to try these.
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Very savory. Super!!
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I’m making snickers squares sometime, it is one of my favorite treats! Your recipe is a bit different so I’m definitly gonna try your way of making it.
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Those are mouthwatering!!!
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oh my gosh, those look amazing!
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Delicious squares. I love dulce de leche!
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I can’t believe how good these look!
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Could you help with my shortbread? Pretty please?
http://stovetopdancing.blogspot.com/2010/05/shortbread-longday-bigmess.html
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Snickers are one of my favorite candy bars. I’ll have to put this on the “to bake” list since they look so delicious!
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Yum! Just made these but I used walnuts instead of the peanuts. Can’t wait to try them, they look AMAZING!!
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Michelle on October 24th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Oooh love walnuts! Can’t wait to hear how you liked them!
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Dulce de leche is not available in my area, would you please suggest an alternative product? Thank you.
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Michelle on December 6th, 2011 at 11:22 pm
Hi Marie, If you have access to sweetened condensed milk, you can easily make your own dulce de leche. Lori has a great tutorial here: http://www.recipegirl.com/2009/03/28/how-to-make-dulce-de-leche-a-really-easy-method/
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Marie on December 9th, 2011 at 12:22 am
Michelle- Thank you for sending the link to Lori’s tutorial. Oh my stars, it looks delicious. Snickery Squares will be mixed up soon. umummm
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