Copycat Payday Bar Recipe
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Copycat Payday Bar Recipe: if you’re a fan of PayDay Candy Bars made of caramel and peanuts, you’ll love this copycat dessert recipe!
Copycat Payday Bar Recipe is a delicious combination of sweet and salty. The caramel has a fudge-like texture and consistency. Although peanut
The peanuts add a nice crunch and a little salt.
You can also add different nuts to your recipe. Pecans or almonds would be lovely. Furthermore, M&Ms or peanut M&Ms would be tasty and add some festive color to the dessert.
Copycat Payday Bar Recipe
There are two main steps to this recipe. The first is making the caramel, and the second is mixing the ingredients.
While making the caramel isn’t difficult, it does take a little time. I have found that making the caramel in the oven takes more time. However, there’s less chance of scorching it than on the stovetop.
This is my easy method. Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a non-stick baking dish. Cover it tightly with aluminum foil. This dish needs to fit inside another dish. I use a 9×5-inch loaf pan for the sweetened condensed milk and set the loaf pan inside a 9×13-inch baking pan. Bake it at 400° F for 1 hour. Remove the pans and allow the mixture to cool before proceeding with the rest of your recipe.
A note of the peanut
These Copycat Payday Bars are a lovely gift for teachers, neighbors, and friends. If you want to gift them, coat them in dark or white chocolate. Read How to Melt Chocolate here. You can even top it with sprinkles for a festive touch!
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Copycat Payday Bar Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 4 cups peanuts roasted and salted
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups marshmallows mini-marshmallows will melt faster
- 1/2 cup peanut butter creamy (I don't recommend peanut butter chips)
- 2 cups powdered sugar (aka confectioners) sifted
Instructions
For the caramel
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a shallow non-stick baking dish. Cover it tightly with aluminum foil. It needs to fit inside another dish. I use a 9×5-inch loaf pan for the milk and set it inside a 9×13-inch baking pan.
- Pour water in the larger pan until it reaches about halfway up the inside pan with the sweetened condensed milk in it.
- Bake 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool. (You can do this step hours beforehand.)
- Line a 9×13-inch pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Add 2 cups of peanuts and spread them out evenly over the bottom of the pan.
For the bars
- Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with non-stick aluminum foil or parchment paper.
- Spread 2 cups of peanuts evenly over the bottom of the pan.
- In a heavy-bottom saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until they're melted.
- Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the caramel and the peanut butter.
- When the mixture is completely combined and smooth, remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the confectioners' sugar.
- Quickly pour this mixture over the peanuts and smooth it with a silicone spatula. Sprinkle the remaining peanuts evenly over the top and press them into the caramel with the spatula.
- Allow the bars to set for 1 hour on the countertop or about 30 minutes in the refrigerator before slicing.
- Use the parchment or foil to remove the bars from the pan to a cutting board and cut into squares or bars with a sharp knife.
- Store in an airtight container for up to one week.
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are important to you, I recommend calculating them yourself.
Why is the caramel so soft? What am I doing wrong both? My sister and I have had the same results. Can you help?
The caramel may not be cooking long enough. Have you calibrated your oven so that you know the temperature you set is on is actually what it’s getting up to? Try this How to Calibrate your oven. Also, you can add more sugar to make it sturdier. Sift it first.
Tastes great, the center was too soft, I’ll cook the sweetened condensed milk longer next time, I think that’s the problem why it’s too soft