Do you like Butterfinger candy bars? If you say no, then we can’t be friends anymore.
I happen to love Butterfingers!
These homemade Butterfinger Bars were so easy. Almost a little too easy, if you know what I mean.
With 3 ingredients
And in 3 minutes
They were done
First ingredient: Candy Corn. If you have leftover candy corn from Halloween or a surplus that’s just burning a hole in your cupboard, you can use it to make these.
Or you can make Candy Corn Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites, too.
Second ingredient: Peanut Butter. Everyone has this. I know there’s no shortage of nut butter in the cupboards of bloggers and blog readers.
Third ingredient: Chocolate chips. Everyone has these, especially if you read my blog.
Now everyone can have these.
They’re so easy and spot on with the flavor of real Butterfingers that these are dangerous. I’m not even kidding.
I’ve always wished I could just have Butterfinger centers. Fold back the chocolate and just get to that flaky-textured, peanut buttery-flavored orange stuff. I’ve also wished I could duplicate just that orange stuff at home.
And now I have.
Butterfinger Bars (Vegan, Gluten Free Options)
1 c candy corn (to keep vegan use Vegan Candy Corn or make your own homemade vegan candy corn – there are tons of recipes online, google it)
1/3 c peanut butter
3/4 c chocolate chips, for the top layer
Directions:
Line a small baking dish with aluminum foil, parchment, or plastic wrap. Make sure you have this ready to go. (I used a 5 x 5 Gladware plastic container meant for leftovers that I lined with foil and also sprayed with cooking spray)
In a microwave safe bowl, melt the candy corn. This will go fast. Approximately 30 seconds (50-60 seconds, max).
Have your peanut butter waiting on a big spoon and the second you take the candy corn out of the microwave, stir in the peanut butter. If it hardens up on you too fast, place mixture back into the microwave for 10 seconds or so, until you can stir it to be smooth.
Take your smooth mixture and put it into your baking dish, pushing it down with a spoon or your hands. Work quickly. Place this into the freezer.
Next, melt your chocolate chips. If you want more/less of a chocolate layer, use more/less chips.
Remove the baking dish from the freezer, pour melted chocolate over it. Place in freezer and allow to set up for 10 minutes or so, slice & enjoy.
Tips:
Spray your microwave-safe bowl with cooking spray before you add the candy corn and begin microwaving and melting it. It will dramatically help with cleanup.
Line your baking dish with aluminum foil, parchment, or plastic wrap. It will dramatically help with cleanup.
Double or triple the recipe as needed in a 1:3 ratio, i.e. 1 cup Peanut Butter to 3 cups candy corn, and use a 8 x 8 baking dish or similar.
You could make Butterfinger Truffles by cutting squares or rectangles with a knife or pizza cutter of the hardened orange mixture, and then submerging those into a chocolate bath. I personally did not need the entire bar coated in chocolate because it’s quite rich just having chocolate on one side, but to each her own.
Here was my Gladware container that I made them in. First I poured down the orange layer, and let that cool. Then I poured down the chocolate layer and let that cool. Sliced and ate.
Tastes.just.like.a.real.Butterfinger
It’s unreal how close the candy corn + PB mixture approximates the taste of that orange Butterfinger center we’ve all come to know and love.
Or that I have come to know and love.
In terms of texture, they also have that flaky crisp and crunch like store-bought Butterfingers. And boy, did those flakes ever make for plenty of photography out-takes. Note to self: flaking candy bars are not easy to work with.
The homemade bars have a slight degree of chewiness to the orange center. Not much more than store-bought Buttefingers, but just a tiny bit of extra chew, which I enjoyed.
And even if you’re not a candy corn fan, the bars don’t taste like candy corn. They taste like Butterfingers!
Because I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, the chocolate is darker and richer on the homemade Butterfingers bars compared to store bought, which have more of a milk chocolate coating. I prefer dark to milk chocolate, any day.
I also opted to just keep the chocolate on top, rather than dunking the entire thing into a chocolate bath. You could, but these were plenty rich with just chocolate on one side, and that’s saying something especially coming from me.
And as I said in the recipe portion, you could also make the orange pieces smaller and dip or fully coat them witth chocolate, thereby making Butterfinger “Truffles”
These are my take on Butterfinger Mini’s.
These are so easy. Go on, make some. I know you’ve got candy corn lurking in your cabinets, and if you don’t, go buy some just to make these.
Questions:
1. Do you like Butterfinger candy bars?
You could of course just buy Butterfingers, but then you wouldn’t get to re-invent the wheel but that would take the fun out of wondering what to do with leftover candy corn.
The other nice thing is that you control what goes into these. You know what ingredients are going in, so in a roundabout way, somehow they are probably better for you than storebought Butterfingers. You know, because candy bars of any type are good for you and all, right?
2. What do you do with your leftover Halloween candy?
I’ve seen chocolate bark that’s sort of a candy bar dumping grounds, i.e. throw in bits of Snickers and Milky Way hunks, add M & M’s and gummi bears, whatever you have on hand, add it all to melted chocolate, spread on a sheet pan, and create a candy bark smorgasboard with your leftover candy. Any type of flavor combo goes.
I’ve also seen the same principle but applied to popcorn. Popcorn, plus candy bar odds and ends are added, then a caramel mixture is made and poured over it, bake it all in the oven for 10-20 minutes, and candy bar infused caramel corn is born.
Nothing like a few low-sugar recipes, eh? Just go to Pinterest and if you need ideas. Prepare to drool.
3. Halloween Plans?
Be safe and have fun. Those are the two golden rules.
My plans involve this
Need other homemade candy recipes?
Candy Corn Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites (No Bake)
Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cups
White Chocolate Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
No-Bake Vegan Chocolate “Turtles”
No-Bake Vegan “Peppermint Patties”
And if you have one spare second, could you please Vote for Me in the Delta/Biscoff Bake-Off. Thank you! I really appreciate it.
I found this recipe on your site a couple of years ago and forgot about it. Â Fast-forward to 2015 and guess who stumbles across it again… Â Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Candy Corn – oh my stars! Â So much for going sugar-free next month. Â ;)
Truly, thanks for sharing the recipe Averie!
Wow I even forgot about this recipe!! Thanks for jogging my memory and here’s to trying that sugar-free thing in 2016 :)
FYI, a generous sprinkle of pink Himalayan sea salt over the top is the best 4th ingredient ever! :D Yum!
I made these but the texture was completely off. Any idea why? Were very soft.
Very soft would tend to indicate your mixture did not get hot enough when you melted it (same principle applies to making caramel for example…thru the continuum of sauce to chewy candy to toffee to brittle – the hotter it becomes, the harder the finish product will be). Maybe micro it an extra 10-15 secs or so.
Also try a different brand of candy corn.
If you want a break from the chocolate coating (did I really type that???), try a Zagnut bar. It is an ‘old-school’ candy that can be found at Michaels (yes, the craft store) or Cracker Barrel. It is a bar of just the awesomeness that is the center of a Butterfinger bar.
That being said, I cannot wait to make these. I love candy corn and always have a bag hanging around now that Fall is around the corner.
I LOVE Butterfingers. I can’t believe candy corn is in it…wow! I’ll definitely try this some time.
I LOVE your recipes! Have been ‘stuck’ here for the last 15 minutes cause I keep seeing something else I want to know more about. Awesome! I love butterfingers.
So glad I’ve kept you stuck :)
I love candy corn, although they are sickeningly sweet! Maybe it’s just because I keep eating until they make me sick! LOL! But cutting that sweetness with peanut butter and adding chocolate! What a great combo! Pinned and waiting to pickup some candy corn! If I would have known I would need it, maybe I wouldn’t have eaten it until it make me sick! Thank you!
I can’t eat more than a handful or two before I feel the same way. Cutting them with the PB & Choc like you said is really great and the recipe tastes SO CLOSE to real BF’s. It’s crazy, actually!
AH! Now I have to wait 10 months for candy corn to pop back on the shelves before making these. Dammit- I knew I should have stocked up this halloween :) I can’t believe you can melt candy corn, who knew? Excited to try these someday.
Oh it’s around. Go to a Walgreens, Rite-Aid, or look in the candy section of a large grocery store – poke around and you’ll find some. Like my drug stores have these small bags of real cheapie candy, 2 small bags for 2 bucks type thing. Worth a try!
Hi Averie! WONDERFUL recipe- three of my fav. treats in one! THANK YOU for sharing! :) Love your blog!!!! I made this over the weekend (Brach’s candy corn, natural PB and Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate morsels) and it was a big hit!
Margo thanks for the feedback and glad they turned out to be such a hit! Thanks for coming back to tell me about it and for reading and nice compliments :)
Oh, yes. This is *just* what I’ve been searching for. An amazingly fantastic (but easy to make) goody recipe for bringing to work on Halloween! Thank you!
Do these bars need to stay frozen, to keep firm? Or can they be kept at room temperature after they firm up and are cut?
They stay extremely firm at room temp – almost too much so IF you overcook the sugar. Be extra careful when heating it in the microwave b/c too long can turn it the finished bars harder/firmer than you want if you let the sugar get too hot. Just keep a watchful eye on the boiling process so when it’s all poured and then sets up, it doesn’t set up TOO firm. You will not lack for firmness in this recipe! Enjoy!
Thanks, Averie! I doubled this recipe, but cut them up like bark, instead of into bars. I called it Halloween Crack, haha! It was a huge hit. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad it was a success! I have wanted to double it too and pour it in a sheet pan or similar and then just frost it like bark. Glad to know that worked and they were a hit!
Love this idea! I figured hey three ingredient and three minutes I can’t screw this up, wrong. Hard as a rock! Now, I’m the type of person to follow a recipe exactly. The candy corn was bubbling after twenty seconds or so but not all of them were melted. did I just cook it to long? I want to try again but could you please explain why mine turned into a brick? I love the flaky aspect but I don’t get the whole hard ball , soft ball thing. Thanks.
If it’s hard as a rock, yes, it’s overcooked. All microwaves vary widely and if yours was melted in 20 seconds, then probably around that time you should have stopped cooking it. You are making candy, in the microwave. The hotter you allow the internal temperature of the mixture to become, the harder/more rock-like the resulting candy will be. So reduce the cooking time, cook until melted, and then stop cooking it and I think that will do the trick!
Thank you for giving me an excuse to buy candy corn! :P Area Gladware containers typically oven-safe? I don’t know if mine are and the package is long gone.
Oven-safe?! What was I talking about…?
Anyway, I just made these for Sweetest Day, and I’ll probably save some for my sister’s birthday this weekend :) thanks again for sharing a great recipe!
Glad you tried them and that they were a hit and good luck saving a few for your sis’s bday :)
I also have a weakness for Butterfingers! I don’t necessarily care for candy corn… but, I have to try your recipe! I’ll need to bookmark you. You ave very interesting Recipies. :D
I can’t beleive that you actually… can make butterfingers! I must try them when I grow up!
And super easy, too!
I made these last night…had a few and brought the rest to work…so i didnt eat them all alone :)
Glad you made them…and shared :)
These are amazing! I didn’t trust myself making a whole pan, so I made a single serving by using 1 1/2 Tbs of candy corn with 1/2 Tbs of peanut butter. Perfect!
Glad they were a hit and you made them single-serving size and they worked for you.
Made these tonight – I mistakenly used 1/2 cup of peanut butter instead of 1/3, but the taste is exactly like a Butterfinger! I loved it. They are crumbling when I cut them, but I also messed up the recipe :) I’m going to chill them a little longer to see if that helps. Thanks for the recipe!
Yeah it’s not really an exact science b/c 1/3 or 1/2 c is not going to make “too” much difference…I used Jif but every PB will behave differently based on oil, etc. And also how long you micro it all can make a difference. If they’re crumbling, you may want to try slightly less cooking time by 10-15 secs and see if that helps. Otherwise wait longer, yes. :)
Aha! I did use a natural PB (runny) and microwaved the heck out of them. That’s probably why!
You caused it to go into what’s call the “hard ball” stage of candy-making. Google soft ball and hard ball, candy, etc…it’s when the internal temp of the recipe causes the sugar molecules to change, resulting in everything from toffee to brittle to chewy taffy, etc. What we’re doing here is making candy in the microwave and trying to keep it at the soft ball stage.
Reduce!!!! your microwave time to avoid flakes, ie. hard ball.
O-M-G!!! If I still had candy corn in the house I’d be dropping everything I’m doing and making these RIGHT now. I have a severe love for Butterfingers but only allow myself to eat them at Halloween. These look divine AND my daughter is gluten free which means the are a great treat for her. THANK YOU!!! I’m hopping over from http://www.bargaingab.com, if you feel like stopping by!
Glad they look good to you. Enjoy!
Wow – butterfingers were my all time favorite when I was growing up! I also have a weakness for candy corn and of course peanut butter… I wish I never read this! :)
Great blog, I just came across it this morning!
Not that you need to know this urgently, but I had NO idea that candy corns melt!!! WOW!
This is a great idea! I like to just get Chick-O-Stick candy and eat it with dark chocolate to get the same effect, but I might have to make my first batch of vegan candy corn to try your version :)
I just had to try these. So easy and so fantastic! They are going to be a big hit at my work potluck tomorrow!
Thanks Averie!
yay!!! glad they worked out and that you have a potluck to bring them to…LMK what folks think of them!
Candy corn?! What a creation! These sound lovely. Can’t wait to try!
let me know if you do try them!
These are amazing!!! You have outdone yourself! It is going to be hard not to finish them all before my princess gets back from the movie!
Thanks hon and LMK how your Princess likes them, too :)
This is amazing! You’re a genius, Averie!
I wonder if there’s a way to make them chewier as opposed to flakier. I’m sure there’s some sort of food-science rule that would tell me how to, but I’d probably just try trial-and-error. Too lazy, haha.
chewier rather than flakier…probably microwave it on the very edge of melting rather than REALLY melting it, i.e. keep the internal temp lower AND possibly play around with candy corn to PB ratios.
Averie–LOVED this recipe–made a whole pan and it’s almost gone! You are so talented!
Glad they were a hit!
What a creative idea – whodathunkit that those 3 ingredients make the beautiful bars in your pictures. If they were a hot mess to photograph, I would never know it!
Those look delicious, I never would of thought of adding candy corn! I adore Butterfingers and basically any “crappy” candy (by Mars or Hershey’s) that is awful for you but so so hard to resist. :) Have a great Halloween.
thank you Colleen and have a great Halloween too!
L.A. in the hizzle! I wish I could eat candy corn (or maybe I don’t really because I don’t know when to stop and only place myself into sugar coma when I do eat them…) What a great idea to use this as the base for Butterfingers! Genius, really…
Glad to meet another SoCal chica :)
Brilliant recipe Averie! I just linked up to it on Go Dairy Free in a Halloween post :)
Thank you, Alisa. You’re the best :)
I also have these which are Halloween-ish and you can use margarine
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2011/10/candy-corn-cookie-dough-pretzel-bites.html
Not that you need any more recipes…you put together an impressive list!
I just love your quick and easy recipes, especially when there’s a vegan option! Butterfingers weren’t my favorite, but I was never a girl to turn down any kind of candy :)
I try to add a vegan option where ever I can..and in this case, so easy to just use vegan candy corn.
These make my teeth hurt just thinking about them…but in an oh-my-gosh-I-need-to-make-these-yesterday kind of way :)
You’re brilliant. And of course, I LOVE butterfinger, so we can definitely still be friends :) They used to sell Butterfingers where my brother did Tae Kwon Do and I would buy two of them and sit in the car munching away while my brother got his Hi-Ya! on. Obviously I had my priorities straight, even as a kid.
no you’re brilliant. i heart you for still commenting all these years later xoxo
Amazing!! I so love anything butterfinger, health bar, toffee, caramel….I am running to the store to make these today!
I love that you try my goodies…LMK what you think of them, ok! :)
honestly only genius you would think to put candy corn as butterfinger in a bar. now i’m DYING to go out and get some candy corn.
simplest recipe ever. do it grrrrl!
You are such a goddess!!! What’s funny is I hate candy corn with a passion, but I LOOOOOVVVE Butterfingers, so I may have to go buy my first bag of candy corn ever for this purpose alone! :)
no you’re a goddess :)
I made a very similar recipe yesterday! It was equal parts candy corn and peanut butter by weight and I dunked them in chocolate. So good. My only complain was that my candy corn took FOREVER to melt – like over three minutes. Oh well, totally worth it in the end!
Mine melted in like 40 seconds but I used 1 cup. Depends I guess on how much you use and your micro. Mine melted crazy fast. Wasn’t expecting it to go THAT fast.
I LOVE Butterfingers! And I never would have thought I could make them with candy corn. You’re a genius!
you would love these then if you love BF’s!
oh my gosh…you made VEGAN BUTTERFINGERS?!?! hero <3
I truthfully cannot stand candy corn but I will be buying a bag just for these!!
…& you know your fellow bloggies well. No shortage of nut butters & chocolate chips in this home ;)
Girl, I love Butterfingers! I am so making these. Thanks Averie, I will let you know how it turns out. I bet they are soooo addicitive. Muhaha! :)
Amazing idea….
yes, fill me in :)
You are a genius!!!! I’m not a huge fan of candy corn, but I love Butterfingers…I’m going to hunt down some candy corn today and trying these tonight! Thank you so much for posting this :)
lmk if you tried them!
I made them tonight!! They are soooo good! I melted my candy corn too much though, I was cooking supper at the same time and when I looked back in the microwave it was bubbling..still amazing and ate half the batch, they are just really chewy!
I LOVE butterfingers – but u dont get them here and Im almost forgotten they existed!! You dont get candy corn here either tho, so Im flummoxed on both counts. AND we dont get candy for Halloween so I cant even answer that.
One thing we do get however is a TON of chocolate around Christmas. My general strategy with that is to pretend Im going to give it away and then gradually, all through January, sub out my healthy breakfasts until I am living off chocolate truffles and tea before 11am. Soon enough I have a morning long headache, some new cavities and Im wondering what the heck is GOING ON when Im training for a nutrition diploma… and then finally the chocolate is all gone and I can go back to being me!!! YAY!!!
These are so artfully and tastefully (no pun intended) displayed; they look soooo delicious! I am practically drooling reading this. Great work!
I can’t wait till I move to a big city in January; right now I’m in a small podunk town where they look at you funny if you ask for vegan anything. It’ll make getting ingredients for things like this so much easier!
thanks for the photo compliments…I didn’t really love the pics from this shoot but I wasn’t going to re-shoot them. So thanks for saying you liked them.
And good luck with your move!
oh mannn I love the photos and descriptions… these do sounds wonderful. What I love about butterfingers is how they kind of get stuck in your back teeth and you have stuff to work on for a while, extending their peanut buttery goodness for even longer :) Have an awesome weekend Averie!
These look seriously good, Averie. And I love how simple they are too.
At my last job, the company had a snack room and always had mini butterfingers. It was a very dangerous situation for me. haha
OMG – this is nuts. Butterfingers were always ranked high on my candy-love list ;-) And while I don’t like candy corn, this is brilliant.
A local vegan bakery here uses cornflakes and I’m always trying to figure out how to replicate it. These look SO much easier than all of my attempts – thanks!
I have never had leftover candy corn…it is a weakness I have. I haven’t had it in so long since the stuff you buy around here is contaminated (on shared equipment). I’m with you, while you could just buy it…it’s way more fun to make these things! Looks beautiful!
I have no idea how you came up with using candy corn as a Butterfinger filler… genius! I definitely used to love Butterfinger when I was younger, but I haven’t had one in years. Love this! :)
i’ve never had a butterfingers choc bar! and i think the last time i tried candy corn i was about 12!
let’s pretend i have a hallowe’en party to go to…i’d make these bars. something about melting candy corn is very fun!! and i think i would try dunking them in the chocolate bath…of course, this is all hypothetical!
OMG!!! Girl, you are killing me over here!! I love butterfingers and haven’t had them in years upon years!!!! I haven’t ever seen candy corn really for sale! LOL! But now I’m going to look!!
xxoo
no your choc covered potato chips take the cake of I want them!!!
Yes and it’s been years since I’ve had one. This recipe looks amazing, awesome job! Love the pics and simplicity of the ingredients!
1. Yes.
2. Dump it at work for co-workers to eat.
3. Handing out candy at home. Exciting, I know, but it’s a stinking Monday night.
you could make them vegan w/ vegan candy corn…most candy corn is already almost vegan anyway..it’s just glorfied HFCS, your fave thing….kidding :)
to your other question in another comment, chihuahua…one day maybe we’ll get another dog. Life needs to calm down a bit before I could embark on that thought though :)
Loving the vibrant colors!
How on earth did you figure out that those three things combined would taste like Butterfingers!!!!?? That is pretty crazy, and I am intrigued. Good work! The bars look awesome, and I don’t like candy corn :-)
From too much time spent on Pinterest and reading and seeing recipes there, googling, and a little luck :)
Averie, this is SUCH a creative and good idea!
make them!
You know my thoughts on these bars already, but the pictures are great! Love the orange glow on them too. I wonder what makes them flaky? I was thinking about adding some graham crackers or something, but I don’t need to, huh?
don’t even mess w/ the graham crackers. it will muck it up and make it really thick and unworkable I am thinking.
once you get this melted nearly hot liquid, you have to work fast and the G.C.’s would just…be a liability I think.
the flaky i am guessing comes from changing the molecular structure of the sugar in the heating process…denaturing the molecules. hey wait, don’t you have a phD in science? :)
Was there something wrong with my comment about thinking the addition of graham crackers sounded good? Why would you delete that? I was just agreeing with your commenter… nothing wrong with that. There is nothing “negative” about agreeing with someones idea. Perhaps you think since it is altering your idea it is wrong… aren’t all recipes just altering and adapting ideas?
I’m sure this will be deleted as well, but you have lost a reader.
None of your comments were ever deleted. Calm down, please :)
I could do an attached screenshot and email it to you if you want me to. I hope you continue to read my blog because no, I never deleted your comments. The 3 you have left me are all still here and have been, check the screen again and reply back if you’d like me to email you a screenshot.
I think graham crackers sounds like a heavenly addition! Great idea! Perhaps cornflakes or something fun for the crunch:)
yes they sound good in theory but the orange mixture is pretty thick and I can’t imagine adding anything dry to it, making it even thicker, but if you have success or try a variation, I’d love to hear it.
katie and i are good friends and we bantered about this on email too :)
averie! i got the job! :) i got hired after my interview. even did a little bit of training already! guess im gonna be living in nY!
i do miss cali weather already though, but i’m so excited for NYC!
congrats on your job!!!!!! this is what you’ve worked 10+ years, mi-an, to do and have…congrats!!! I am so incredibly happy for you.
i know you’ll miss CA but you’ll be living in NY. You are gonna love it, I know :)
xoxo
This is so insanely creative yet simple. I don’t have any candy corn (or PB for that matter, I’m an almond butter girl), but now I’m tempted to go stock up on both.
Wow… my Halloween plans just changed… they now include making these butterfingers. They are one of my favorites! I will bake in costume of course.
LMK how they turn out for you. would love to see pics of you making them in costume. lol
Holy Cow! I am so making these, maybe right now! This looks so good and I am glad it’s fast and easy! Thanks!!
report back if you make them!
My older sister always picked the Butterfinger when we went shopping for “treats” with our parents. I never liked them. I am not sure what it was about that candy bar that I didn’t like, but I usually picked M&M’s with almonds or Snickers!
Got a snickers bar we can make, Averie? :-)
We are going out of town for Halloween weekend. We don’t really do the whole deal so it’s nice to get away!
Who knew??!? I do now, thanks to you :) CAN’T WAIT TO MAKE THESE!!! Awesome!
OH GIRL! We ARE friends. I’m in love with Butterfingers – SO making these!
Lmk your thoughts if you make them!
Wow Averie….you went to town with these treats. Just pinned all the glorious sweetness :)
Thank you my friend…I made them TODAY. And did the photos and the editing today. I just had to post them…asap. Thanks for the pins my friend. I see your pins everywhere and re-pin and ‘like’ whenever I see them :)
Wow, haha I love this idea! I’m going to lie to you and say I like butterfingers… and candy corn :S can we still be friends?