Chewy homemade Payday bars are a deliciously sweet and salty no-bake dessert that you can whip up in minutes in the microwave! This homemade candy bar recipe tastes just like the real deal.
Calling all candy lovers! After you’ve tried these homemade Payday candy bars, check out my turtle candy, sponge candy, and more easy homemade candy recipes.
What is a Payday Bar?
If you live in the US, chances are you’ve had (or at least heard of) a Payday candy bar! Maybe you’ve spotted them on Halloween or in the grocery store checkout line. An original Payday bar is made from salted peanuts wrapped around a center of sweet caramel that’s a bit like nougat. As it turns out, these bars are super simple to replicate at home using a few pantry ingredients! These homemade Payday bars are just the best.
Why I Love These Homemade Payday Bars
- Easy candy recipe. There’s no baking or temperature-taking involved, and you mix up the ingredients in one bowl, pour, and set. Plus, it’s delicious. But if you adore peanuts and peanut butter as much as I do, that much is a given.
- Like the real thing, but BETTER! These no-bake Payday bars are filled with fluffy, sugary marshmallow centers set between crunchy layers of roasted peanuts and finished with sea salt. They have the perfect amount of chew and just the right amount of crunch.
- Quick. This Payday bar recipe takes just a few minutes to make using the microwave.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This Payday candy bar recipe only needs six ingredients. Here’s a quick summary with notes on what you’ll need. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the printable recipe with the full amounts and details.
- Peanuts – For that authentic Payday bar salty-sweetness, I use salted and dry-roasted peanuts. Other nuts can be used as well. I include easy variations in the section later on.
- Peanut Butter Chips – Because no one ever says no to more peanut-y flavor in this house! If that’s not the case with your family, caramel chips or even semi-sweet chocolate chips are also an option.
- Butter – Salted or unsalted butter, to give the nougat-like center extra richness and smoothness.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk – Make sure you’re buying sweetened condensed milk and not evaporated milk/unsweetened condensed milk.
- Mini Marshmallows – Or regular marshmallows chopped into mini-sized pieces.
- Flaky Sea Salt – You’ll want to use flaked sea salt, like Maldon salt or similar, as table salt will not work in this recipe.
How to Make Homemade Payday Candy Bars
Making classic Payday bars at home is easier than you might think! This no-bake recipe follows a very similar method to how you’d make peanut butter Rice Krispie treats, as most of the magic takes place in the microwave. Follow the steps below. You’ll find the printable recipe instructions in the recipe card after the post.
- Prep. Begin by spreading half of the peanuts into the bottom of a greased baking dish. Make sure they’re in an even layer.
- Make the filling. Meanwhile, melt peanut butter chips with a few tablespoons of butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir until smooth, then stir in the sweetened condensed milk.
- Assemble the bars. Now, fold the marshmallows gently into the peanut butter mixture. Pour the mixture over the peanuts in the pan.
- Finish and chill. Lastly, press the remaining half of the peanuts into the marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle flaked sea salt overtop, and then chill the slab in the fridge for 1 hour before cutting it into squares. Voilà, homemade Payday bars!
Recipe Tips
- Use a large bowl. The first time I made these peanut butter bars, I made the mistake of using a smaller bowl to combine the ingredients. Word from the (now) wise: mini marshmallows take up more space than you think! Err on the side of caution and get out a big-sized bowl for melting and mixing. Make sure it’s microwave-safe.
- Wrap in parchment paper. If you’d like to wrap these bars for gifting, use parchment paper as a first layer so that the wrapping won’t stick. This also goes for storing. If you’re stacking the bars, be sure to separate the layers with parchment paper to avoid a particularly sticky scenario.
- Plain vs. Roasted peanuts: Roasted peanuts are especially crunchy and have a nice toasted flavor. But if all you have is regular salted or unsalted peanuts, these will also work!
Variation Ideas
The best part about homemade Payday bars? You can make them 100% to your liking! Here are some easy ways to change up this recipe:
- Dipped in chocolate. Melt chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler, and then dip the bars into the chocolate either fully or partially.
- Rainbow marshmallows. Use rainbow marshmallows instead of white mini marshmallows for a fun, colorful twist.
- Substitute the peanut butter chips. You can make the marshmallow center with melted chocolate chips, caramel chips, or butterscotch chips instead of peanut butter chips.
- Different nuts. It may not technically be a Payday bar without the peanuts, but go ahead and swap them for other roasted and salted nuts like hazelnuts or almonds.
How to Store
Store your Payday bars airtight in a cool and dry location for up to one week. If you live in a particularly warm climate, you may want to keep them in the fridge. Just take them out a few minutes ahead of serving so they’re not overly chewy! As I mentioned in the Tips section earlier, if you’re planning on stacking these bars, I recommend separating the layers with parchment paper to keep the bars from sticking.
These copycat Payday bars won’t freeze or defrost particularly well. If you make a batch with leftovers, though, they’re perfect for gifting and sharing!
More Easy Candy Recipes
Homemade Payday Bars
- Prep Time: 5
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 30 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No-bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Chewy homemade Payday bars are a sweet and salty no-bake dessert that you can whip up in minutes in the microwave!
Ingredients
- 16 oz salted dry roasted peanuts
- 2 cups peanut butter chips
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 (10.5 oz) bag mini marshmallows
- 1–2 tbsp flaked sea salt
Instructions
- Spray 9×13 pan with baking spray or grease with butter. Sprinkle 1/2 peanuts in the bottom of the pan, reserving the other half for later
- In a large microwave safe bowl, heat peanut butter chips and butter in 30 second increments on 50% power. Stirring after each until melted.
- Pour in you sweetened condensed milk and microwave on high power for 1 more minute. Stir until smooth and combined.
- Fold in marshmallows to peanut butter mixture until evenly coated and then pour over your peanuts in the pan.
- Press the remaining nuts into the marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle with flaked sea salt and chill for about an hour.
- Cut into squares.
Notes
Original recipe from the kitchen of Angie Bonfanti.
I am so excited for you! Okay, so it may not seem like “fun” in the traditional sense, but I guarantee that you will experience such a feeling of accomplishment and well-being that you might even find yourself trying to convince others how much fun it is.
And these bars…yep, that’s what I call a good training treat.
One of my favorite candy bars!
HOLY YUM!!!
These look delicious! Love Payday bars! And I love how easy these are! Perfect for a quick dessert.
Ok, first of all – YUM! These look AWESOME! Paydays have always been one of my favorite candy bars! I used to trade for them at Halloween with my siblings. 🙂 My son only recently discovered the joy that is a Payday (and he’s almost 20!! Wait, did his mom always eat them out of his Halloween stash…?), and I’m totally making these for him!
I just recently got suckered into, I mean, signed up for a 5K. Yikes!! But, mine is in about a month! One of the things on my to-do list for this week is buy a sports bra. 🙁 I KNOW you feel my pain!
I love how these are so easy to make and all you need is the microwave! You’ll be great in the tri…at least you’re attempting it! I’ll cheer you on from my couch. 😉
Darn those sporty friends! In all honesty, I think you’ll have a blast!
I’ve not yet made homemade Paydays but these look so yummy, and super easy! They may just be in my near future!
These looks awesome! I am on a sweetened condensed milk kick so these are perfect!! Love the cute handwritten recipe!
Congrats on the tri! You will do awesome and it gives you an excuse to eat more of these bars!!
Oh lord have mercy. Better you than me. But you are certainly a good friend. I choose not to have sporty friends. 😉 They make me tired.
I made homemade Payday Bars in December! It was right before xmas and knew I ‘should’ be making xmas cookies but made these instead. I loved them and love your version and the handwritten recipe.
Congrats on the mini tri! They’re fun and way more do-able than a full tri and that is so awesome!!