I have quite a large family. And with such a large family, we are known to have HUGE family reunions. In fact, we rent out an entire park complete with pavilion, playground, kitchen, outhouse, horseshoe pits, and more JUST to fit all the family members in one place.
I have a lot of great memories when it comes to these family reunions. From winning prizes, to having water fights, to all the amazing food. And it is the food that I want to talk about today.
You see. Each generation is asked to bring a different type of food. I never really knew who was expected to bring what (I was too young and haven’t gone since I moved away), but it went something like this:
-The great aunts and uncles bring main dishes
-The aunts and uncles bring sides
-The cousins bring desserts
Or what have you.
I remember what we brought one year in particular because the recipe remains one of my most requested to this day. My mom made apple candy bar salad.
This apple candy bar salad was delicious. We kids could not get enough of it when she trialed it at home. But when she set in on the potluck table for the reunion…no one took a single bite. She brought two large containers of this dessert and was getting really disappointed that no one was willing to try it. Part of the problem? People look at it and think it is a weird looking potato salad but it is FAR better.
Thankfully, one of my aunts decided to be brave and took a spoonful near the end of dinner. After that one bite, she asked if she could take one of the containers home! She liked it, a lot! And so has everyone else who I have seen try it since (and that is a lot of people since I bring this to nearly every potluck I go to)!
Now this recipe came from Allrecipes.com, however, it is hard to find the original now because there are so many recreations of it. Long ago it was called apples and snickers salad but searching that does not bring up the recipe we remember.
So, with a little recollection and experimentation I have recreated the recipe we remember for you! So here is the…
Apple Candy Bar Salad Potluck Recipe
- 6 apples, cored and cubed (I suggest 3 grannie smith and 3 hard flesh red apples)
- 4 full size Snickers chocolate bars, cubed
- 1 cup milk
- 1 package vanilla pudding mix, not prepared
- 1 tub (litre) Cool Whip, partially thawed (whippable)
- 1-2 cups red grapes, sliced (optional)
- 1-2 bananas, peeled and sliced (optional)
- Add Cool Whip and pudding mix in a large bowl. Stir to combine, adding milk slowly to thin the mixture to a mousse like texture.
- Add apples, Snicker’s and optional toppings if any. Stir until all pieces are coated in the pudding mixture.
- Wait at least ½ hour before serving. Doing so will allow caramel from the Snickers to run into the pudding mixture and with a quick stir you amp up the flavour.
- To store, refrigerate promptly then remove ½ hour to an hour before serving for the same reason as above. Can be stored for 3-4 days before apples start to soften.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family, friends, coworkers, and I do! I dare you to bring it to a potluck and see what reaction you get. Just remember to put up a sign so no one thinks it is potato salad!
This recipe sounds delicious and is perfect for a summer party. I’ll have to give it a try…..and make other people try it too!
Your family reunion sounds like a lot of fun. I bet you hold a lot of special memories from the event!
Thanks Jamie! I am sure everyone will love this recipe at any party.
And definitely a lot of memories from our family reunions. So glad to have a family like I do with lots of support and fun.
Oh my goodness, this would be SUCH a hit at summer BBQ parties! I know my hubby would go crazy, cause he loves snickers (something I only let him indulge in a few times a year!).
It definitely would be!
And a restriction on Snickers? Your poor husband haha. Truly though, I find they are so sweet it is actually hard to eat too many at once. This salad helps tone them down a bit.
Oooooh apples and candy bars…. LOVE this 😀 I can relate, my family is pretty big too, and family reunions are always a blast, but chaotic lol. I’ll definitely have to give this one a try, it sounds just up my alley 😀
Definitely give it a try! It is soooo worth it. Sometimes I make some to eat for myself (I don’t even scale down to recipe haha). And glad someone else knows the chaos of a large family gathering. Sometimes I forget just how crazy it is when we are all together!