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This bag of candy corn has been hanging out in my cupboard since October. I had good intentions -- I was going to make those little pretzel Hershey kiss things with a candy corn on top! And then I got busy, or had to clean the house, or we made plans, or something. Who really likes candy corn anyways? If they were any good at all, they would be long gone by now. So there they sat, month after month.
But THEN I remembered this crazy post that I saw on Pinterest. Homemade Butterfinger candy bars, made from CANDY CORN -- there are about a million posts about it. It sounds pretty weird, but I decided to give it a shot since I didn't want to throw the candy corn away.
Turns out, they are delicious! If stored in the fridge, they are a little crunchy and surprisingly reminiscent of my favorite candy bar as a kid. I dipped them in dark chocolate since that's what I had on hand; let's call it a grown-up-remake. Bart Simpson would be all over these. Anyone remember those commercials?
Homemade Butterfinger Bars
Makes:
25 mini candy bars
Ingredients
11 oz bag of candy corn (should equal about 1.5 cups)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 heaping cup dark chocolate chips
2 tsp shortening or coconut oil
Instructions
Line an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with waxed paper. Ad candy corn to a microwave-safe bowl (I used glass) and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in-between, until you have a melted bright orange blog. Stir in the peanut butter and microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir until combined, heating more as needed.
Turn the candy mixture out into the lined square pan and press candy to the edges so you end up with one big candy slab. Be careful, the mixture will be hot, so use a wooden spoon or spatula.
Allow the candy to cool for 20 minutes or so on the counter, then transfer to a cutting board. Using a pizza cutter, trim off any uneven edges, then cut into squares or rectangles. I cut the slab into 25 squares.
TIP: You can crush up the trimmings and use them for sprinkles, or coat them with leftover chocolate -- homemade Butterfinger BB's anyone?
Chill candy in the refrigerator - you want to make sure the squares are completely cool before dipping them in chocolate. To melt the chocolate chips, microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in-between, until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
TIP: If the melted chocolate seems too thick for dipping, you can melt 2 tsp shortening or coconut oil into the chocolate to thin it out.
Set up your dipping station -- candy, chocolate, waxed paper lined cookie sheet. To dip, drop the candy squares one at a time into the chocolate. Use a fork to flip the square over and completely coat it. Use your fork to pick up the candy and tap it on the edge of the bowl (about 30 good taps).
TIP: Using a fork allows the chocolate to drip back into the bowl. You want to tap pretty hard so that you can get rid of the excess chocolate, but not so hard that the candy flops back into the bowl.
Place the coated candy on your lined cookie sheet to set.
TIP: If you have any leftover chocolate, scrape it into a zip-lock baggie, cut the corner off, and drizzle your squares. This helps to hide any imperfections and dresses them up a bit!
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
