Did you know that I’ve gone my whole life without ever trying a snickers bar? I’m usually not too bothered by my dairy and nut allergy but when everyone’s eating chocolate and peanut butter on Halloween while you’re the kid in the back nibbling on your 6th pack of skittles, things start to seem a little unfair. Well NOT ANYMORE because these homemade vegan and peanut free snickers are better than anything that comes out of a wrapper! And they’re healthy too?! Imagine a crunchy toasted layer of seeds over a gooey layer of caramel all wrapped up in a little chocolate package. With some Malden salt sprinkled on top—this is what dreams are made of y’all.

I know the whole thing seems a little daunting with all the layers, but there’s actually only 6 pantry ingredients in this recipe. I would say the hardest part (which really isn’t that hard) is coating them in chocolate. I’ve found that the key is working with extra cold filling. I let mine freeze initially for about an hour, cut it into bars, then returned them to the freezer for another half hour. This way, I didn’t have to worry about not being able to cut them after they had frozen solid.

As for the container, it really doesn’t matter what you use as long as it’s somewhat narrow and flat on the bottom. I lined an 8 by 4 loaf pan with parchment paper and was able to cover about half the bottom with a 1/2 inch layer of nougat.

Recipe adapted from Healthy Snickers Bars over at From My Bowl

Ingredients:
1 cup pitted dates (packed)
3 tbsp Sunbutter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup oat flour
1/4 cup date caramel (above)

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds 
1 cup dairy free chocolate chips 

Instructions:

1. Start by toasting the seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until golden and puffy.
2. To make the date caramel, place pitted dates in a bowl with boiling water and allow to soften for 5-10 min. Pulse dates, sunbutter and vanilla in a food processor until smooth.
3. To make the nougat, reserve 3/4 of the caramel in a separate bowl, then add the oat flour to the food processor. Pulse until a dough rough dough forms. If it doesn’t come together, add 1-2 tbsp of water
4. Firmly press the nougat in an even layer into a narrow container (I used a parchment lined loaf pan). Spread the remaining caramel over the nougat and sprinkle over your toasted seeds, gently pressing them down so they stay in place. Freeze for at least 1 hr, preferably 2.
5. Use a sharp knife to cut the filling into bars then return to the freezer while you melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Remove 1 bar from the freezer at a time so they stay cold and drape the top and sides in a thin layer of chocolate, leaving the bottoms uncoated (I used a fork to hold the bar while I drizzled chocolate on with a spatula). Set each one down on a piece of parchment and allow to harden completely (about 5 min.)
6. Using a spatula, gently spread chocolate over the bottom of each bar and return to the parchment. Place in the refrigerator for another 10 min to harden completely before eating.