Snickers Salad

snickers salad It’s packed with cream cheese mousse, tart apples, and snickers that combine to create the ultimate side dish recipe for summer potlucks, barbecues, holidays, or family gatherings.

snickers salad

Also known as Caramel Apple Salad, this dessert-style salad recipe belongs to the same family as Ambrosia Salad, or my Orange Cream Salad recipe. A sweet and unexpected side dish with a classic Midwestern flair. It’s the kind of recipe that was in your grandma’s recipe box, served at Fourth of July picnics and church potlucks back in the days when dessert salads were so popular. When you bring this to your next event, be prepared to share the recipe with everyone who tries it.

What is Snickers Salad?

As I said earlier, it is both a dessert and a side dish. A chopped Snickers candy bar paired with a light, light cream cheese mousse made with cream cheese and a whipped topping. In addition, it contains sour apples and mini marshmallows for an authentic texture. Chilling until ready to eat makes it a great recipe to make ahead. Some people add caramel sauce and call it caramel apple salad.

But… are Snickers good for you?

The short answer is “no, it’s not”. This is not a “healthy” salad recipe. This is a perfect dessert salad. Don’t get me wrong, Snickers are delicious, but they never mention the fact that this salad has health benefits.

To make the Snickers Salad:

It requires very few ingredients and minimal prep work. A full ingredients list and printable recipe can be found at the bottom of this article.

Prepare your ingredients. Peel and chop 2 Granny Smith apples and cut 1 fun-sized bag of Snickers bars into bite-size pieces.

Make cream cheese mousse: Use an electric hand mixer or place in a bowl. stand mixer is equipped with paddle attachment Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Turn down the mixer or use a rubber spatula to mix the cool whip.

To assemble: Stir chopped apples, chopped snickers and mini marshmallows until evenly blended. Chill the salad for at least 1 hour before eating.

Snickers’ Caramel Apple Salad Recipe Tips:

This is a pretty foolproof recipe, but there are a few little tips I’ve learned over the years making it.

• Be careful not to over mix the cool whip with cream cheese and powdered sugar. A light mix or just a few uses of the paddle attachment can help. If you mix too much cool whip with cream cheese, it will lose its fluffy texture.
• After peeling and chopping an apple, do not leave it for too long. Apples oxidize the longer they sit, so you don’t want to add brown apples to your salad.
• I use a fun size Snickers 11 oz bag, but you can also use a full size bar. You only need about 11 oz.
• Cut apples and snickers into equal sized pieces. It’s great when everything in your salad is about the same size, or as close as possible, to a mini marshmallow and comes in one bite.

What are the best apples for this recipe?

To be honest, you can use almost any kind of apple in this recipe, but as I’ve mentioned several times, I prefer to use Granny Smith. Granny Smith has a nice acidity to it, and the acidity beats the sweetness in this recipe in a nice contrast. However, Pink Lady Apples, Fuji, Glass, Honeycrisp, or Braeburn apples are also good choices. However, avoid Golden Delicious as it is not crispy.

Can I make a Snickers salad the night before?

The answer is yes. The recipe for this salad should be made in advance. It’s best if you take the time to cool and harden it! It doesn’t need to be made the night before, but should be chilled in the refrigerator for at least an hour before eating.

How to eat Snickers Apple Salad:

There are many ways to provide this. Here are some of my favourites.

• As a side dish for BBQ. Whether it’s ribs, burgers, or grilled chicken, it’s a great family side dish that everyone can enjoy.
• on the holiday table. It might sound crazy, but serve this up on Thanksgiving and see how your guests react. Spend a wonderful time that will disappoint everyone with a holiday buffet that everyone will love.
• that way. When I made this recipe and had leftovers, I was known to enjoy a small bowl of it for dessert…even a little caramel sauce on top!

variation:

I’ve seen many recipes for this easy salad over the years and it can really be adapted. Here are some that I think are great.

• Another kind of candy bar: Milky Way and Twix can be really good too.
• Omit the cream cheese and have a package of instant pudding mix instead. Chill and add cool whip to make pudding mousse. Then follow the rest of the recipe to mix the candies, apples and marshmallows into the pudding mixture and chill. Using instant vanilla pudding mix or butterscotch pudding is great because both are delicious!
• Skip the cool whip and make homemade whipped cream instead! Pour 8 ounces of heavy cream and 1/4 cup of powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk at high speed until stiff peaks form.

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