I’ve often been told that good things come to those who wait.  Never has the statement been more true than with homemade Butterfingerish candies.

Three ingredients + 30 minutes = Total Candy Bliss

Mary Quite Contrary Bakes’s version of homemade Butterfingers were lighting up Twitter a few weeks ago. Naturally, I had to investigate. Seems Mary saw the recipe on a food blog that she follows, and adapted it. That food blogger saw it from another blogger, and adapted it. That blogger saw the original recipe on the Taste of Home community forums.

This recipe gets around.  And boy, am I glad!

I’ve made no secret of my love for all things peanut butter. In fact, during my freshman year of high school, a friend and I ate a Butterfinger candy bar every day for lunch. Not with lunch, for lunch. We washed it down with a Diet Slice because we were watching our caloric intake. That was teenage dieting at its finest, my friends.

However, as you all know, my peanut butter intake has been nearly eliminated since Son #2 was diagnosed with life-threatening peanut & tree nut allergies.  I have mourned the loss of peanut butter in my life. Mourned!  Consequently, I have purchased every nut-butter substitute on the market in search of a palatable peanut butter replacement.  They were all awful!  Awful taste, awful texture, and/or awful after-taste. I had resigned myself to never again eat a peanut butter cookie, peanut butter cup, or a beloved Butterfinger bar.

That is until a friend told me about another product:

SunButter has been our saving grace in these peanut-free times. SunButter, made from roasted and ground sunflower seeds, tastes a lot like peanut butter, but even better!  The best part is that I have been able to successfully substitute equal parts SunButter for peanut butter in recipes.  I’ve been going a little overboard with this discovery.   I can make SunButter chocolate chip cookies, SunButter cups, SunButter buckeyes…you get the idea.

Hooray!

Homemade SunButterfingers are my latest adaptation of a peanut butter recipe using SunButter.  I’ll be honest–they are divine! So thanks to Mary Quite Contrary Bakes for sharing the recipe on Tasty Kitchen and making my Twitter friends salivate enough to tweet about it.

As for the rest of you–make these today!

You’ll need candy corn, SunButter, and chocolate chips. That’s it!

Line an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 inch baking pan with waxed paper.  As long as you have the waxed paper out, line a baking sheet with it, too. Set both pans aside for later.

Place the candy corn in a large bowl.  Try not to eat it all. You’ve got candy to make!

Unless of course you happen upon a defective piece of candy corn that only has two of the requisite 3 colors. Those are meant to be eaten.

Heat the candy corn on high heat in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until fully melted. I’ll be honest–I let the candy corn go for a minute at a time before stirring it. I’m kind of a rebel like that.

Once the candy corn is fully melted, fold in the SunButter and stir until completely incorporated. This is going to take a little muscle, but your efforts will be rewarded.

Spread the filling into the prepared pan, and pop it in the freezer for 20 minutes, or until very firm.

Meanwhile, pour the chocolate chips into a small bowl. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on high heat for 30 second increments, stirring in between, until completely melted.

Grab hold of the waxed paper, and lift the frozen filling out of the pan, setting it on a cutting board. Cut the filling into bite size bars with a sharp knife. I was able to cut 36 “fun size” bars.

Dip the bars into the melted chocolate. Gently turn them with a fork to coat, and then tap the fork with the candy on it against the side of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate.

I’ve always felt the term excess chocolate was kind of an oxymoron. As if there could be such a thing!

Place the coated candy bars onto the prepared baking sheet. If you are feeling extra fancy-pants, use some of the excess melted chocolate to drizzle pretty lines over the top of the bars. Or just eat the rest of it with a spoon. I won’t tell.  Refrigerate the candy for 15 minutes or until the chocolate is set.

I must say that the texture and flavor of these SunButterfingers are spot on in relation to their peanut-laden cousins. They do get a little soft once coming to room temperature, so I recommend keeping them in an air-tight container the refrigerator.

The Not-So-Fineprint: The folks at SunButter have no idea who I am other than a fan on Twitter. I have not been paid or compensated in anyway for my ringing endorsement of their product–it’s just so good that I had to tell you about it.  All opinions are my own. Obviously.

Homemade SunButterfinger Candy Bars

(Adapted from Mary Quite Contrary Bakes, and Taste of Home)

http://comfortablydomestic.com

Makes 36 Mini Candy Bars

16 oz. Candy Corn

16 oz. Creamy SunButter

3 cups Milk or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1. Line an 8×8 or 9×9 inch square pan with wax paper.
2. Melt the candy corn in the microwave in a large bowl on full power, for 30 seconds increments, stirring in between, until fully melted and smooth.
3. Stir in the SunButter until fully incorporated and smooth.
4. Spread the filling into the prepared square pan and level the top with a spatula.
5. Place the square pan in the freezer for 20 minutes, or until very firm.
6. Meanwhile, line a large baking sheet with wax paper.
7. Melt the chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave on full power, in 30 second increments, stirring between, until melted and smooth.
8. Once filling is very firm, remove the pan from the freezer. Use the edges of the waxed paper to lift the filling out of the pan, setting it onto a cutting board.
9. Cut the filling into mini sized candy bars. I cut the bars 4 across one way, and 9 across the other to get 36 bars.

10. Dip each bar into the melted chocolate, turning gently with a fork to cover completely. Take the bar out of chocolate with the fork and tapping the fork lightly on the side of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate.

11. Place the coated bars on the wax paper lined baking sheet. Continue until all the bars are dipped. If at any time the chocolate becomes too hard to dip, return it to the microwave and heat for another 10-15 seconds and stir.

12. Once all the bars have been dipped, place them (on the baking sheet) into the refrigerator for 15 minutes, or until chocolate is set.

13. For best texture, serve chilled, and store SunButterfinger bars in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.