Avengers Campus Choco Smash Candy Bar Copycat Recipe - Diznify (2024)

Choco Smash Candy Bars

Brownie Layer

• Cooking spray
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 7 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 eggs

Caramel Peanut Layer

• 18 oz. Werthers soft caramels (80 caramels) from a 28 oz. bag or 4 x 4.5 oz. bags
• 2.5 tablespoons condensed milk
• 1 cup roasted salted peanuts

Nougat Layer

• 6 tablespoons malted milk powder
• 1 tablespoons organic powdered sugar organic powdered sugar is preferred
• 2 egg whites
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light corn syrup
• 2/3 cup water

Peanut Butter Layer

• 8 oz. Smuckers Natural Organic Creamy Peanut Butter make sure you use Natural creamy peanut butter that has visible separation of oil in the jar for that Reeses peanut butter cup texture.
• 1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup organic powdered sugar, tightly packed and then sifted

Dark Chocolate Layer

• 4 10 oz. bags Ghirardelli Dark Melting Wafers You will need 4 bags if making candy bars and 1 bag if making pan of bars where only the top is covered in chocolate.

Special Supplies

• 8" x 8" glass baking dish that's at least 2" tall
• Candy thermometer
• 9" x 13" baking dish
• Serrated knife that's 10+ inches in length
• Ateco 804 round decorating tip
• Piping bag
• 2-cup glass measuring cup with spout

Before You Begin

• This is a pretty long process. If you made the candy bars in one day, and continued working while heeding all the minimum rest and freezing times, your bars will be completed in about 9 hours. About 3 hr of that time will be hands-on. The remainder of the time will be resting and freezing.

  Although not required, the bars taste best the day after. If you wish, factor that into your time allowance. Don't let the time commitment scare you away. These are too good!

  If you want to save a little time, we recommend making an 8x8 pan of bars instead of individual candy bars. See Recipe Notes section for modifications to the recipe below in order to make an 8x8 pan of bars.

Make the Brownie Layer

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

• Start with an 8" x 8" x at least 2" high glass dish. Line the dish with a 25" long sheet of foil as pictured below. Make sure all four, inner sides of the pan are lined completely with foil and excess foil is hanging off the sides.

  

• Spray the foil with cooking spray.

• Over a double boiler on medium heat, melt the butter, sugar and chocolate chips until smooth and combined.

• While the chocolate is melting, in a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

• Once all components in the chocolate mixture are melted and stirred together, remove it from the heat and allow the mixture to cool until lukewarm, about 15 minutes.

• Add the eggs to the chocolate mixture and use an electric mixer to blend until just combined.

• Add the flour mixture add use an electric mixer to blend until just combined.

• Pour the brownie batter into the foil-lined, greased 8x8 glass dish, distributing the batter evenly in the pan. Make sure the batter reaches the sides and corners of the dish.

• Bake for 22 minutes. Note: It's okay if the crust cracks on your brownies because you will be pouring caramel over it, so nobody will notice.

  

• Allow the brownie to cool for at least for 10 minutes in the pan, then lift the foil out of the pan and transfer it to a cooling rack. Keep the brownie in the foil for at least an hour to cool. Then, return the foil and brownie to the 8" x 8" glass dish.

Make the Caramel & Peanut Layer

• Measure 1 cup of peanuts and chop into pieces, if desired. Set aside.

• Unwrap the caramels and put them in a microwavable-safe bowl. (There are so many individual caramels to unwrap, so enlist help if you can!)

• Add the condensed milk to the caramels and microwave on high, stirring every 30 to 60 seconds, just until fully melted and pourable with the nudge of a spoon. Do not overheat (it shouldn't be runny).

• Working quickly, pour the caramel evenly over the brownie layer, avoiding the tin foil edges (caramel is prone to sticking to the tin foil). If the caramel doesn't evenly distribute, use the back of the spoon to smooth it out.

  

• Immediately top the caramel with peanuts. Use your hands to press the peanuts lightly into the caramel.

  

Make the Nougat Layer

• When you're ready to make the nougat layer, transfer the 8" x 8" glass dish with brownies and caramel to the freezer (this is to cool the caramel layer to prevent if from melting when you add the hot nougat).

  See Also

  Chocolate Stout Cake With Coffee Glaze Recipe

• Add the egg whites and cream of tartar to a bowl and beat until soft peaks form (if not using a stand mixer, it's helpful to beat the eggs in a smaller bowl and then transfer the egg to a larger (medium-sized) bowl in preparation for step # 4.

• In a medium saucepan, add the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Heat over medium heat (our stove was on one notch above medium) until syrup reaches 260 degrees F (hard ball candy stage) with a candy thermometer.

  Tip: It's very important that your candy syrup is at 260 degrees F. At 250 degrees F, the nougat will be too soft, like fudge. At 270 degrees F, it's hard and crackly like meringue. 260 degrees is the perfect soft and fluffy nougat temperature.

• Once the syrup reaches 260 degrees Farenheit, you have to move quickly! Remove the syrup from the heat, then take 30 seconds to beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and immediately move onto the next step.

• While continuously beating on high, pour 1/4 of the syrup over the egg white and beat for 1 minute (if you have another person to help pour the syrup while you beat, that works best). Continue to add 1/4 of the syrup at a time, beating on high for 1 minute in between each addition. It should take 4 minutes to incorporate the candy syrup into the egg whites.

• Then, add the malt powder/powdered sugar mix to the egg whites/syrup and continue beating until just combined, about 30 seconds.

• Continuing to work quickly, remove the 8" x 8" dish of brownies and caramel from the freezer and pour the nougat evenly over the peanuts.

  

• If the nougat doesn't evenly distribute over the peanuts, tilt the pan or use the back of the spoon to smooth it out.

  

• Allow the nougat to cool at room temperature for at least 20 minutes, then transfer to the freezer for 1 hour.

Cut the Bars

• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

• Line the counter top (or other flat work surface) with parchment paper.

• Take the bars out of the freezer and lift the foil out of the pan. Then, carefully remove the foil from the bars. Make sure that no foil is left behind in the crevices! (If the foil does not peel away, return to the freezer until it does.) If caramel has stuck to the tin foil, cut it away with a knife.

• Place the bars, brownie side up, on the parchment-lined counter top.

• You'll need a 10"+ long, serrated knife for the following steps. If you used an 8" x 8" dish with rounded edges to build your bars, 2 of your bars will have rounded edges. To correct this, start by cutting about 1/4" off of two ends. (If you used a pan with straight edges, skip this step). See step #7 for how to make clean cuts.

• Use the knife to gently mark 8, equal sections in the brownie.

  

• Cut 8 bars using this technique: Cut each bar in one, fell swoop (one cut). To make the cut, spray the long knife with cooking spray. Position the long knife on top of the bars, extending the knife past the end of the bars on either side. Using even pressure, press the knife straight down. Between each cut, clean the knife and spray it with cooking spray.

  

• Repeat until you have 8 bars. (If the bars aren't cutting cleanly, transfer back to the freezer until they do).

• Using both hands, carefully transfer the bars to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Lay them on their sides as pictured below-- this will ensure the candy bars are straight. Freeze for 1 hour.

  

Make the Peanut Butter Layer

• While the bars are in the freezer, make the peanut butter layer. Remove the entire contents of the peanut butter from the 16 oz. jar and beat with a mixer to incorporate peanut butter and the oil that has separated.

• Remove 8 oz. of the peanut butter and add the softened butter and salt. Beat until combined.

• Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat until combined.

• Transfer the peanut butter layer to a piping bag fitted with an Ateco 804 round tip.

• Line a 9" x 13" baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.

• Once the bars have been in the freezer for 1 hour, remove them from the freezer and carefully place them in the 9" x 13" dish as pictured below. The nougat side should face up and there should be a small gap between each bar. (If the bars don't seem sturdy enough to pick up yet, transfer them back to the freezer until they are.)

  

• Pipe the peanut butter onto the nougat layer of the candy bars in a curly pattern as shown below.

  

• Transfer the peanut butter topped bars to the freezer for at least 2 hours or overnight. Freezing the bars ensures that the curly pattern of the peanut butter stays in tact while dipping the bars in chocolate.

Cover in Dark Chocolate

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

• Follow instructions on the package to melt one package of Ghirardelli dark melting wafers in the bottom of a glass 8" x 8" dish. Melt another package of dark melting wafers in a 2-cup glass measuring cup with a spout. If you don't have a glass measuring cup, melt the chocolate in another microwave-safe bowl and then transfer it to a measuring cup with a pourable spout.

• Remove the bars from the freezer.

• Coat bars in chocolate one at a time. Start by gently and quickly dipping the bottom brownie layer into the 8 x 8 pan of chocolate (Contrary to the YouTube instructional video below, do NOT continue to sit the bar in chocolate because some brownie may stick to the pan and come off).

  Then, hold the bar at a 45 degree angle and use the measuring cup to pour chocolate over the peanut butter topping, allowing the chocolate to fall down the sides of the bar.

  Finally, spoon chocolate up the sides of the bar to fill in any gaps.

  

• Once the bar is coated in chocolate, pick it up and let it hang vertically for a moment to let excess chocolate drizzle off. Next, touch the bar to the edge of the pan to further remove any excess chocolate. Then, set the bar on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. (There will be a couple finger prints on the candy bar. If you wish, you can touch up these areas using a very small amount of chocolate on a spoon before they dry.)

  

• Repeat steps 4 and 5, occasionally spooning leftover chocolate from the 8x8 glass pan back into your measuring cup. Continue until all 8 bars are coated, melting more chocolate and returning the chocolate to the microwave as needed to get it back to a pourable consistency (this pourable consistency is vital to accentuating the peanut butter curl on top).

• Allow the chocolate to set on the candy bars at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

• Once the chocolate is set, cover the candy bars and keep at room temperature or in the fridge. The bars taste even better the day after you make them, so we recommend letting them sit overnight.

  Note: The dark chocolate layer melts quickly outside on a hot day (which is most likely why Disneyland serves these refrigerated). If you refrigerate the bars, the caramel will be firm, so you may want to thaw for 30 minutes before enjoying.

  Rate the recipe above and show us what you made by tagging us on your favorite social media platform! Enjoy!

This is a copycat recipe for the Choco Smash Candy Bar found at PYM Test Kitchen in Disneyland California Adventure's Avengers Campus.

To Make an 8" x 8" Pan of Bars (not individual candy bars), follow all steps listed above, minus a few instructions:

1. Do NOT line your 8" x 8" glass dish with foil. Spray the glass pan generously with cooking spray.
2. Allow thebrownie to cool in the pan instead of removing it.
3. Skip the "Cut the Bars" section.
4. If you don't want to pipe curly patterns on your bars, you can spoon and spread the peanut butter topping evenly over the nougat, leaving a perimeter without peanut butter topping along the edges for the chocolate to pool. Because this requires more peanut butter topping, we recommend doubling the ingredients for the peanut butter topping as listed above (use a whole 16 oz. jar). Pour just enough chocolate to cover the top of the bars.
5. You'll only need one bag of Ghirardelli dark melting wafers to cover the top of your bars in chocolate.
6. Bars do not need to be refrigerated. However, if you choose to refrigerate the finished bars, thawing time will take longer than 30 minutes. The bars are fine to eat cold, but the caramel will be quite firm right out of the fridge.