Snickers Pie

This Snickers Chocolate Pie is a layered dark chocolate and peanut butter pie with salted caramel sauce and roasted peanuts in an all-butter crust. Serve it chilled for a fudgy, creamy slice, or frozen for a Snickers-bar effect that is hard to put down.

This pie is adapted from the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie I made at my shop, scaled to a single pie and layered with peanuts and salted caramel for textural contrast. My husband requests it every Thanksgiving, and the leftovers always end up in the freezer, which, frankly, is his preferred way to eat it.

This recipe starts with the same chocolate filling I developed for my chocolate pie: a dense, fudgy base that holds up under the caramel and peanut layers without turning gummy or loose. If you love chocolate pie, try this chocolate chess pie next!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Unsalted Butter, cold: In the crust, cold butter cut into small cubes creates flakiness and a shell sturdy enough to hold the caramel without going soggy. In the caramel and chocolate filling, butter emulsifies for a glossy, smooth texture rather than a greasy or broken one.
• Granulated Sugar: The tiny amount in the crust gently encourages browning without sweetening the shell. In the caramel, it is the base that caramelizes for color and flavor; in the filling, it balances the bitterness of high-percentage dark chocolate and cocoa.
• Heavy Cream: Cream turns hard caramelized sugar into a pourable sauce that stays soft even when the pie is chilled or frozen. Its high fat content gives the caramel body and a silky texture that won’t weep into the crust.
• Dark Chocolate: This is the primary flavor driver in the filling and provides structure as it sets during baking. Using a higher-percentage chocolate, like 90%, keeps the filling from tipping into cloying alongside the sweet caramel. If you use a sweeter chocolate, reduce the granulated sugar accordingly.
• Cocoa Powder: Cocoa deepens the chocolate intensity without adding more fat or sugar. It also helps the filling firm as it bakes by absorbing some liquid, creating a sliceable, custardy texture rather than a soft, fudgy puddle.
• Eggs and Egg Yolks: Whole eggs provide the coagulation that makes the filling sliceable. The extra yolks add richness and a velvety texture that holds up smooth and clean even when served cold from the freezer.
• Jif No-Sugar-Added Peanut Butter: This gives the filling its Snickers-adjacent peanut flavor and additional fat for creaminess without extra sugar that would throw off the sweetness balance. A stabilized commercial peanut butter like Jif keeps the filling emulsified during baking. Natural or sweetened peanut butters will change both the filling’s texture and sweetness, so if you swap, expect to adjust. For a different use of peanut butter in a rich dessert context, try my Peanut Butter Buttercream.
• Salted Cocktail Peanuts, chopped (1 cup): These provide the crunch and salty snap that tie every layer together. Chopping them keeps the pieces small enough for clean slices without oversized chunks cracking the crust.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations on This Snickers Pie

• Different Chocolate Percentage. The filling works across a range of dark chocolate percentages, but the sweeter your chocolate, the more you should reduce the granulated sugar in the filling to keep it from tipping too sweet against the caramel. I used 90% specifically because its low sweetness balanced the caramel layer without any adjustment.
• Change the crust. You can use my pâte sucrée, or this Crisco pie crust. You could even try it with my almond flour tart crust!
• Hazelnuts. Swap out the peanuts for hazelnuts and use Nutella in the filling. I would reduce the sugar a bit in the filling to keep it from being too overly sweet. If you love baking with hazelnuts, you should try this pear hazelnut tart!

Professional Tips

• Don’t remove the pie weights until the crust looks matte. The sides and bottom need to be fully matte, and the edges should just be beginning to brown before you remove the weights. Pull them too early, and the sides will sink, leaving a shallow shell that cannot hold all the filling.
• Lift the dough into the dish; never stretch it. When fitting the crust, always lift the edges to let the dough settle into the corners under its own weight. Stretching it to reach the sides makes it snap back during baking, and you can’t fix a shrunken crust once it is in the oven.
• Whisk the warm chocolate mixture into the eggs all at once. Dribbling in the warm liquid slowly risks scrambling the eggs at the bowl’s edges before you can fully incorporate it. Add it all at once and whisk immediately for a smooth, cohesive filling.
• Plan to serve it cold. This pie is meant to be eaten chilled or straight from the freezer, so build that rest time into your schedule.

How to Make Snickers Pie

This pie builds in distinct stages: the crust, the caramel, and the filling. Work through them in order, and each component will be ready when you need it.

Make the Pie Dough

Step 1: Whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in the cold butter with a bench scraper, pastry blender, or two knives, using up-and-down chopping motions until you have pea-sized pieces. If you are using a stand mixer or food processor, slightly larger pieces are fine. Remove any ice from your water, then add the cold water one tablespoon at a time, tossing gently after each addition. The mixture should look crumbly and shaggy before you touch it, not smooth. (photos 1-4).

Step 2: Bring the dough together and chill. Turn the shaggy mixture out onto a clean surface and press it together with the heel of your hand just until it holds. You are not kneading — one or two firm presses are enough. Divide the dough, press each portion into a flat disk, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. (photos 5-7).

This recipe makes two crusts; this pie uses one, so wrap and freeze the second disk for later instead of doubling the filling.

Step 3: Roll and chill the dough flat. While the dough is still cool but pliable, roll it to ⅛ inch thick on a lightly floured work surface. Place it between two pieces of parchment paper, slide it flat onto a baking sheet, and chill for at least 30 minutes, until firm. (photo 8).

Step 4: Fit the dough into the pie dish. Let the chilled round sit at room temperature just long enough to be workable — it should bend without cracking. Lay it in a 9-inch pie dish and gently lift the edges to let the dough settle onto the bottom under its own weight. Never stretch it into the corners, or it will shrink back in the oven. Gently press the sides to fit the dish, leaving the overhang intact. Roll the overhang under toward the rim and press to seal, then flute the edge with your knuckles or fingertips. Chill the shaped shell for 10 to 30 minutes, until firm again. (photo 9 & 10).

Step 5: Parbake the crust. Preheat the oven to 350°F convection or 375°F conventional. Crumple a sheet of parchment paper before lining the inside of the chilled shell — crumpling it first helps it settle into the corners without fighting the dough — then fill with pie weights, dried beans, or rice. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The crust is ready to come out when the sides and bottom look completely matte and the edges just begin to take on color. If it still looks shiny or raw in patches, leave it. Pull the parchment and weights and set the shell aside; you can use it warm or let it cool completely. (photos 11& 12).

You can cool, wrap, and freeze the parbaked shell at this point if you want to work ahead.

Make the salted caramel sauce

Step 6: Combine the cream, butter, vanilla, and salt in a small pot. Bring just to a boil and set it aside off the heat — you want it hot and ready when the sugar is done. In a separate heavy-bottomed pot with high sides, heat over medium-high heat and sprinkle a thin layer of sugar on the bottom. As it melts, sprinkle in more, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up clumps and nudge the dry sugar into the hot spots. (photos 13 & 14).

This process takes patience; it looks like it will never come together, and then it does.

Step 7: Finish and cool the caramel. Once all the sugar is melted, stop stirring and swirl the pot until the caramel reaches a dark amber color — it should smell deeply toasty, almost on the edge of bitter. Take it off the heat immediately and pour in the hot cream mixture slowly while whisking constantly. Pouring too fast will make the caramel bubble up aggressively, which is normal but easier to manage if you go slowly. Pour the finished caramel into a heat-safe bowl and cool to room temperature. (photos 15-18).

The caramel recipe makes about 2 cups; you will need 230 g (¾ cup) for the pie.

Make Chocolate Filling

Step 8: Melt the chocolate mixture. Preheat the oven to 325°F convection. Set a bowl over a pot of barely simmering water — the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. Add the butter, dark chocolate, and cocoa powder and stir frequently until fully melted and smooth with no lumps. (photos 19 & 20).

Step 9: Mix the egg and sugar base. In a separate bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, light brown sugar, eggs, and egg yolks until smooth and slightly lightened in color. After a minute or two of whisking, the mixture will look thick and pale yellow. (photos 21 & 22).

Step 10: Combine the filling. Pour the warm chocolate mixture into the egg-and-sugar base all at once, then whisk immediately to combine. Adding it all at once keeps the heat distributed evenly and prevents the eggs from seizing. Once the chocolate is incorporated, whisk in the peanut butter until the filling is completely smooth and glossy. (photos 23 & 24).

Assemble and Bake

Step 11: Build the layers. Scatter about ⅔ cup of the chopped peanuts over the bottom of the parbaked shell in an even layer — these are the foundation of every bite, and they need coverage across the whole base. Pour the cooled salted caramel over the peanuts and gently spread it with an offset spatula so it reaches the edges. Then pour the chocolate peanut butter filling over the caramel and smooth the top. Finish by scattering the remaining chopped peanuts around the outer edge. (photos 25-28).

Step 12: Bake the pie. Bake at 325°F convection for 50-55 minutes. The filling will look set around the edges but may still wobble slightly in the very center when you pull it. It will continue to firm as it cools. Do not overbake chasing a completely still center, or the fudgy texture will be lost. (photo 29).

Step 13: Cool completely before slicing. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let it cool to room temperature without disturbing it, then refrigerate until fully set. The caramel layer bakes into the chocolate filling, but you can still see distinct layers when you slice the pie cold, which I love. For the best texture and the most dramatic Snickers-bar effect, freeze the pie before serving — my husband requests it every Thanksgiving, and the leftovers always go straight back into the freezer. (photo 30).

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

If this chocolate pecan pie makes it onto your holiday table, I can promise it will not last long. Browse more of my Pie & Tart Recipes or try this creme brulee pie next!