homemade payday bars

I literally made these bars by accident.
My craving for sweet & salty is an endless battle journey.
I don't really like candy corn (yes I do), BUT I saw the candy corn from Whole Foods and had to give it a go.
Knowing that it's made with zero chemicals and dyes made me want to try it even more.
Hey, I'm eating healthier candy--this is good.
Candy corn on it's own (aka after the third handful) can get too sweet. After eating too many, I wanted something salty, since we aren't allowed to have potato chips in the house because I eat them all in one sitting, I reached for the salty peanuts. And POOF, that flavor combination tasted exactly like a Payday Bar!
So I ran to the microwave, grabbed a small ceramic dish, melted a handful of candy corn, slowly but surely it melts just fine....the rest is history Payday bar history. Brilliant I tell you!

Two ingredient Payday Bars, easy peasy, and a little comfort added in knowing the candy corn from Whole Foods which has zero crap in there. So healthier candy bars.  Yay!  lol


You do have to work fast, this melts fast and hardens just as fast.
When melting, look for just done, visible chunks left, which will melt as you keep stirring.
Just keep swimming stirring till is a nice thick taffy-like nougat.



Caution!
When they are cooled, they do harden up, so be careful when slicing or biting!
We can't have you loosing a tooth before Halloween candy eating season starts!



homemade payday bars
print recipe

candy corn (I used the candy corn from Whole Foods, don't know if other brands will work)
spanish peanuts (I found these have the best peanut flavor, and the skins add a nice color.texture too. But use whatever kind you want.)

On a parchment lined baking sheet, lay down a couple lines of peanuts (as seen in photo above).
In a small ceramic bowl, melt a large handful of candy corn at a time in the microwave.
20 second burst, stir/rotate dish, then 10+ more seconds, stir again.
Look for visible chunks left which will melt as you keep stirring.
Dish might be hot, so use caution.
When in doubt always under microwave to avoid burning.
When the candy corn is melted, working quickly, place a line of the nougat on top of the peanuts.
I used a knife to guide it along.
Place more peanuts on top and mold/roll into a log.
This hardens up in about 7-10 minutes.
You can start out making short bars until you're comfortable with how the process works, and move up to longer bars.
Repeat above instructions for more bars.