When I’m on the go and hungry, trail mix is usually my favorite snack. It’s the perfect combination of protein, fat and carbs, yet it also contains that wonderful sweet and salty taste that curbs cravings, and it holds me over for a couple hours. We have a big jar of it sitting on the counter that tends to get smaller and smaller, yet sometimes I get in denial when realizing it’s me who is the only person eating it.
I like the combination so much that it had to be made into something more…like a bar with added caramel and chocolate. Let’s keep the nutritional value but add a lot more deliciousness to it, shall we?
Nilla Wafers are a snack that I could eat all by themselves (or even better when smothered with peanut butter), so I loved the idea of making it into a crust. The chocolate ganache melting into the crunchy sweet caramel and finished with the buttery vanilla crust is sure to satisfy all of your taste buds with one bite…but the research is more thorough with a bunch of bites. It’s all about conducting accurate research.
Caramel Trail Mix Bars
2 cups Nilla wafers crumbs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
20 soft caramel candies
16 Rolos
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup caramel sauce (caramel ice cream topping)
2 1/2 cups trail mix (or 1/2 cup of each: cashews, almonds, peanuts, M&M’s and raisins)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine crumbs with melted butter, tossing until well combined. Line a square 10 inch pan with foil, coat with cooking spray. Press crumbs evenly into pan to form crust, bake for 8-10 minutes. In a small saucepan, combine caramel candies, Rolos, 1/4 cup heavy cream, and caramel sauce. Cook on low, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove saucepan from heat, stir in trail mix and stir until combined, spoon evenly on top of crust. In a microwave safe container, heat remaining heavy cream until just boiling, about 1 minute. Pour over chocolate chips in bowl, whisk together until chocolate is melted. Spoon evenly over caramel mixture. Set in refrigerator for at least one hour. Remove by pulling out the foil, cut into squares. Store in airtight container at room temperature.
