Oh my goodness I have a treat for you today! Have you ever had a Whatchamacallit candy bar? Well they happen to be my favorite candy bar. They have chocolate, caramel, crunchy stuff, peanut butter… basically everything good in one little bar.
When the need strikes for a candy bar, this is usually the one I reach for but sadly Whatchamacallit bars can be hard to find. If I do find them, they tend to be the dusty box at the bottom of the shelf not the glossy top shelf with the show-offy M&M’s and Snickers. Sad. Poor under appreciated Whatchamacallit.
So I thought I’d come up with a homemade recipe for Whatchamacallit. This is such a fun recipe to tuck away for parties or bake sales or when you want to bring something really interesting and different.
This recipe does sound complicated but really it is very simple and no bake. You will combine peanut butter with caramel and chocolate and crunchy cereal and marshmallow and well- these bars are really indulgent and delicious!
If you like Rice Krispies, your kid’s are going to love this recipe.
Here goes:
- 6 cups Peanut Butter Captain Crunch Cereal
- 4 cups miniature marshmallows
- ½ cup butter + 3 tablespoons
- 9 oz semi sweet or milk chocolate chocolate chips
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- Start by getting your crunch layer ready- just like Rice Krispies.
- Coat an 8 x 13 baking pan with non stick cooking spray or butter.
- Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over low heat.
- Add 4 cups mini marshmallows stirring constantly until completely melted.
- Remove from heat.
- Add 6 cups Peanut Butter Captain Crunch Cereal to the marshmallow mixture and stir until all the cereal is coated.
- Turn that mixture into your greased baking dish and use a piece of wax paper to press the cereal mixture down. Don't smash the cereal but you do want it tightly packed to accommodate the other two layers.
- For the Caramel Layer
- In a medium sized bowl melt one stick of butter in the microwave. This should take about 50-60 seconds.
- To the melted butter add your sweetened condensed milk, light corn syrup and light brown sugar and whisk until combined.
- Place your caramel mixture in the microwave and cook on high for six minutes- be careful not to burn!
- You will know your caramel is done when you place a dime sized amount into a cup of ice water and it forms a ball you can roll between your fingers. If the caramel is too soft microwave it for another 30 seconds. You want it the consistency of peanut butter so it spreads evenly.
- Allow the caramel to cool in your mixing bowl for about 10-15 minutes so it is spreadable.
- Pour over the cereal mixture in an even layer.
- Melt your chocolate chips in a double boiler until smooth.
- Once your chocolate has melted, use a spatula to spread it on top of the caramel mixture.
- Slice and enjoy!
A few notes on this recipe- I mentioned heating the caramel mixture for 6 minutes. That is what works in my microwave but if you have a super high powered microwave you might not need as much time.
You can melt the chocolate chips in the microwave too, just be very careful not to overcook. The double boiler just takes a minute and I use the same bowl from my caramel mixture.
You want a nice even layer of chocolate but too much chocolate can overpower the treat and take away from the yummy peanut butter and caramel flavors. I prefer to use about 60-70% of a bag of chocolate chips in this recipe. You can totally use the entire bag of chocolate chips but it is a generous amount of chocolate and that will be the primary flavor of your bars.
I hope you enjoy these! If you decide to give them a shot, please come back and let me know what you think!
Here are a few other fun recipes you might enjoy:
Copycat Starbucks Hot Chocolate– so good!
That is my daughters favorite candy bar! She is having minor surgery tommorow so I’m going to make this for her. Thank you…it will for sure brighten her day!
Oh yeah! She has good taste! Come back and let me know what you think!
These are my favorite candy bar too! So underappreciated! A trick to melting the stuff in the microwave is, microwave 30 seconds and stir, microwave 30 seconds and stir, until it is fully melted. Works great with the chocolate so you don’t burn it. =)