Indulge in a homemade candy bar

Exquisite semisweet chocolate covered homemade Payday bars. Rich. Chewy. Salty-sweet. Pure love in a bar form.

I remember when JLo started to make a splash in Hollywood back in the 90s. She was known first as a dancer, then she moved into acting. When she approached singing, everyone gossiped whether she would be a triple-threat. With these candy bars, I move beyond baking and cooking to dip my toes in the confectionery world. While I am no JLo triple-threat, thanks to these candy bars my butt is now approaching the size of hers.

It all started with a craving for peanuts. I went to Costco last weekend and bought an abundant supply of the roasted nuts, a big family-size dual pack. Two big jars. God bless buying food in bulk.

I posted awhile ago about how to make Payday candy bar treats. They are super simple to make and taste like the real thing and for a fraction of the cost. I wondered what it would be like to dip the treats in chocolate and decided to make this my quest for the day.

I whipped up the treats and let them set for about 45 minutes before tipping out of the pan. I put them onto a cutting board and sliced them into 1″ strips crosswise, then again in half to form candy bar sized treats.

I heated 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. It took about 2 minutes to reach a fully melted consistency.

I fully admit that I am not a candy maker. I did not temper anything, and to be honest, I didn’t have any of the right equipment. Fondue forks proved helpful in dipping each bar into the chocolate and I used a spoon to smear the chocolate all over each piece. I laid the bars onto a silpat mat to cool and harden. I sprinkled the tops on half of the bars with chopped peanuts for an extra little kick.

The candy bars turned out gorgeous – of course, every parent knows the flaws in their children and I know a few of these babies had aesthetic issues. But, I loved each one equally. Since the bars didn’t harden within the first minute (ugh!), I was forced to move them into the freezer for a quick chill (yes, my impatience kicked in).

They came out of the freezer 10 minutes later and I sliced a candy bar in half. It was magical. Chewy on the inside, salty-sweet, peanuty, chocolately. JLo would have been proud.

It was a dirty job but somebody had to do it.