Plant-Based Snickers Bars: Decadent, Crunchy & Dairy-Free

Plant-Based Snickers Bars: Decadent, Crunchy & Dairy-Free

Yield: 18

Make irresistible plant-based Snickers bars with gooey caramel, crunchy peanuts and a chocolate shell—easy, dairy-free and totally satisfying.

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Ingredients

• 300g Medjool dates, pitted and stoned
• 150g crunchy peanut butter
• 180g 70% dark chocolate
• Sea salt
• 40 peanuts

Instructions

1. Line a 1kg loaf tin. Chuck the dates into a blender and blend for a few minutes you have a smooth ball.
2. Spread the dates out over the bottom of the loaf tin using the back of a spoon.
3. Spread the peanut butter over the dates and smooth out evenly.
4. Space the peanuts to get two per bars.
5. Pop into the freezer for 2 hours to set.
6. Once set, cut down the middle lengthways and the cut into 18-20 mini bars.
7. Place onto a plate lined with baking paper and return to the freezer whilst you melt the chocolate.
8. Melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a pan of simmering water. Dip the bars into the chocolate, making sure they get completely coated. Put onto baking paper to set.
9. After a few minutes, when the chocolate has cooled, sprinkle with sea salt. 
10. Place into the fridge to firm up for 20-30 minutes.

What is a Snickers—and why it’s not (yet) vegan

Snickers is the classic candy bar made of nougat, caramel, and peanuts, all coated in milk chocolate. Mars, Incorporated introduced it in 1930, reportedly naming it after the Mars family’s favourite horse, and the bar has been a bestseller ever since. In the UK and Ireland, it was sold as Marathon for decades before switching to the global Snickers name in 1990—a fun bit of branding trivia that still inspires the occasional retro re-release.

At its core, the formula hasn’t changed much: the official ingredient list for a standard bar includes milk chocolate (with skim milk, lactose, milkfat), peanuts, corn syrup, sugar, palm oil, egg whites (in the nougat), and soy lecithin. In other words, the classic recipe contains both dairy and egg, which is why it isn’t vegan. The UK label shows a similar picture, listing multiple milk-derived ingredients plus egg white powder.

Who created it?

Snickers is a product of Mars, Incorporated (the same company behind Mars, Galaxy/Dove, and M&M’s). The bar was first made in Chicago and sold for five cents—a launch that helped cement Mars as a powerhouse of 20th-century confectionery.

A few fun facts

• Name switcheroo: As noted, the bar was called Marathon in the UK/Ireland until 1990 before aligning with the global “Snickers” brand. The Marathon name has resurfaced in occasional limited “retro” runs, feeding nostalgia.

• Supersized record: To mark its 90th anniversary, Mars built a record-breaking giant Snickers weighing over two metric tons—more than 41,000 regular bars’ worth—at its Waco, Texas plant.

• Cultural catchphrase: Snickers’ long-running “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” platform keeps evolving—recently with a UK spot starring José Mourinho—showing how the brand stays culturally loud even as the recipe stays familiar.

Why hasn’t Snickers gone vegan?

Short answer: The core recipe relies on animal-derived ingredients in all three hallmark components.

1. Chocolate coating: Traditional milk chocolate uses dairy (milk solids/milkfat) for creaminess and sweetness. Swapping to plant-based “milk” chocolate is doable (Mars has done it with Galaxy vegan bars in the UK), but that change alone doesn’t solve the rest of the bar.

2. Nougat: Classic confectionery nougat often uses egg whites for structure and aeration. Snickers’ own label explicitly lists egg whites/egg white powder, making this layer a key blocker for a vegan formulation. Plant-based nougats exist, but they require a different stabiliser system (e.g., aquafaba, fibers, or specific gums) and careful R&D to hit the same chew.

3. Caramel: Many mainstream caramels include dairy (butter, milk) to achieve that familiar gloss and mouthfeel; reducing sugars and fats or swapping them for plant-based versions can change texture, set time, and shelf stability. (Snickers’ U.S. label doesn’t break the caramel out separately, but the bar’s overall dairy content is clear.)

Beyond formulation, there are business and supply-chain reasons. A vegan Snickers would need dedicated sourcing, production lines (or rigorous allergen controls), and clear retail placement. Mars has experimented with plant-based chocolate under other brands (e.g., Galaxy Vegan), but as of now there’s no permanent, widely available vegan Snickers from Mars. That’s why most “vegan Snickers” you see are homemade or third-party dupes using dates, peanut butter, and dairy-free chocolate—delicious, but not the official bar.

The takeaway

Snickers endures because the trifecta of salty peanuts, soft nougat, and glossy caramel is deeply satisfying. Historically, that pleasure has been tied to dairy and egg ingredients, which is why the original isn’t vegan. The good news: plant-based confectionery has come a long way, and with big brands already selling vegan milk chocolate, a true vegan Snickers-style bar is technologically very feasible—even if the iconic original hasn’t made that jump yet. Until then, plant-based copycat recipes (think dates + peanut butter + roasted peanuts + dark or oat-milk chocolate) capture the spirit with fewer ingredients and no compromise on the chew-crunch-gooey experience.