Easy Snickers Cake with Chocolate, Caramel, and Peanuts

I sat across from my mother as I thumbed through Alice’s cookbook.

“Isn’t it amazing,” Mom said, “that she made nearly every recipe in those cookbooks?”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “She made all of them. These are her recipes.”

“These are her recipe collections,” Mom corrected me. “I’m sure she had her favorites that she made multiple times. But she told Grandma that she made almost all of them.”

Yes, even almost all of those recipes is a gigantic feat, there are thousands in these books. But, this was changing the picture I had of Alice. In my mind, she was in her kitchen wearing an apron, cooking her way through every single recipe on her fruit tree farm.

These were all her recipes. She made them all. She probably had them memorized.

Maybe my dear grandmother was being a little competitive when she mentioned that Alice didn’t make every recipe. Remember, these were two grandmothers, cooking powerhouses, living across from each other in the assisted living center. We don’t know what went on there.

No, I decided I preferred my version. Alice cooked all of these on her farm. Living a great life. I can’t be distracted with the truth.

I kept thumbing through her recipes until I landed on my next project. A Snickers cake.

Not just chocolate, not just caramel, but the full combination. Sweet, salty, rich, and just a little over the top in the best way.

What makes this recipe even more interesting is how simple it is to put together. It starts with a cake mix, which means you skip the complicated process. I was looking for something easy after I struggled through Alice’s Pepperoni Roll-ups (found in the index under “M” for “My Pepperoni Roll-ups, which only took me half an hour to figure out).

I noticed Alice’s notes in the recipe. Frosting is optional. No kidding. Let me tell you, this is not a cake that needs frosting. I tried frosting this cake. It pushed it over the edge. The caramel, chocolate, and peanuts already bring plenty of richness on their own.

Alice’s original recipe called for pecans, but I felt a Snickers cake should have peanuts. If you want to swap for pecans, its still good (I made both versions). But the pecans give it more of a “turtle” cake taste.

First, you want to preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.

Prepare the cake mix according to package directions.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Any pan. In my case, I’m using a 1970’s pan that has seen better days.

Bake for 20 minutes.

While the cake is baking, melt the caramels, butter, and milk together over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Alice used a double-boiler here. I chose to live on the edge and used low heat with frequent stirring.

Remove the cake from the oven and pour the caramel mixture evenly over the baked layer.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over caramel layer.

Sprinkle salted peanuts over the caramel layer.

Carefully spread the remaining cake batter over the top.

Reduce oven temperature to 250°F and bake for 20 minutes. Then increase oven temperature back to 350°F and continue baking for 10–15 minutes, or until the top is set and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool completely before serving.

Remember, no frosting is needed on this one: This cake is very rich and sweet on its own.

This cake isn’t going to cut into a clean, nice piece. So pile it on your plate, and perhaps even use a spoon to scoop it out of the pan!