Snickers Salad Recipe | Cookies and Cups

Snickers Salad is packed with cream cheese mousse, tart apples, and snickers that combine to make the ultimate side dish recipe perfect for summer potlucks, BBQs, holidays, or any family gathering.

Why You’ll Love This Snicker’s Salad Recipe

• Classic. This dessert-style salad recipe also known as Caramel Apple Salad is in the same family as Ambrosia salad or Frog Eye Salad. It’s a sweet, unexpected side dish that is a midwest-style classic. It’s the kind of recipe that you find in your Grandma’s recipe box (and when you bring this to your next event, be prepared to share the recipe with everyone who tries it!)
• Easy. Putting this “salad” together only requires chopping a few ingredients, then mixing everything together. Super simple!
• Incredible texture. Snickers salad has the perfect balance between crunchy chopped apples, chocolately Snickers pieces and soft mini-marshmallows, all mixed with a creamy topping.

What Is Snickers Salad?

It’s both a dessert and side dish. Chopped Snickers candy bars are combined with a light and airy mousse made with cream cheese and whipped topping.Tart apples and mini marshmallows are mixed in, then you chill the salad until you’re ready to serve it.

How To Make Snickers Salad

There are only a few ingredients needed needed, with minimal prep work. The full ingredient list and printable recipe can be found at the bottom of this article.

• Prep Your Ingredients: Peel and chop 2 Granny Smith apples and chop a bag of fun sized Snickers bars into bite size pieces. 

• Make the Cream Cheese Mousse: Using an electric hand mixer or in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix cream cheese and powdered sugar until it’s smooth. With the mixer on low or with a rubber spatula fold in the Cool Whip until just combined. 
• Assemble: Stir in the chopped apples, chopped Snickers, and mini marshmallows until evenly combined. Chill the salad for at least an hour before serving.

Tips for Success

This is fairly foolproof recipe, but there are a few little tips I have learned over the years making it:

• Don’t over-mix. It’s easy to over-mix the cream cheese/powdered sugar mixture with the Cool Whip when adding it in. Don’t do it! Just fold it in gently or even using the paddle attachment a few times will work. If you whip the Cool Whip too much into the cream cheese it will lose its airy texture. 
• Don’t leave the apples out too long. After they have been peeled and chopped apples oxidize the longer they sit, and you don’t want to add brown apples into the salad.
• Any size Snickers works. I use an 11- ounce bag of the fun sized Snickers, but you can absolutely use full sized bars, you just need about 11 ounces!
• Chop up the apples and the Snickers the same size. It’s great if they are about the same size as the mini marshmallows, or as close as you can get them, making everything in the salad the same size bite!

What Are the Best Apples For This Recipe?

Honestly you can use just about any kind of apple in this recipe, but I prefer using Granny Smith as I have noted a few times. Granny Smith are firm and tart, and the tartness breaks through the sweetness of this recipe with a nice contrast. But Pink Lady apples, Fuji, Galas, Honeycrisp, or Braeburn apples are also good choices. I would avoid Golden Delicious though, as they just aren’t as crisp!

Variations Ideas

I have seen lots of version of this easy salad recipe over the years and it really is open to adaptations. Here are some that I think would be great:

• Another kind of candy bar. Milky Way or even Twix could be really good! 
• Use pudding. Skip the cream cheese and prepare a package of Instant pudding mix instead. Chill it and then fold the Cool Whip in, making it a pudding mousse. Then follow the rest of the recipe by mixing the candy, apples, and marshmallows into the pudding mixture and chilling. This is great because you can use an instant vanilla pudding mix or butterscotch pudding which would both be delicious! 
• Homemade whipped cream. Skip the Cool Whip and make homemade whipped cream instead! Pour 8 ounces of heavy whipping cream and 1/4 cup of powdered sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on high until stiff peaks form.

How To Serve Snickers Apple Salad

• As a side dish at a BBQ. With ribs, a burger, or grilled chicken, this is a great family-style side dish that everyone will enjoy. 
• On your holiday table. I know this may sound crazy, but serve this on Thanksgiving and see how your guests react! It’s a nice break from the expected sides on a holiday buffet that everyone will appreciate.
• On its own. The times I have made this recipe and had leftovers, I have been know to enjoy a small bowl for dessert…I’ve even been known to drizzle a little caramel sauce on top!

Can You Make This Recipe Ahead?

The answer is yes and you SHOULD make this salad recipe ahead. It is best when it has had time to chill and firm up! You don’t have to make it the night before, but it will need at least an hour in the fridge before serving.

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