Snickers Apple Salad

Snickers salad is a deliciously sweet dessert that’s perfect any time of year. Snickers candy bars are combined with granny smith apples, cheesecake pudding, whipped topping and salted caramel sauce – grab a spoon and dig in!

Here in the Midwest, it’s not a holiday if there’s not a salad that’s really more of a dessert somewhere on the table. Dessert salads – they’re a real thing! 

My family’s absolute favorite one of these recipes is my ambrosia salad. It’s a must-make for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and every single summer cookout.

We’re also big fans of watergate salad, pineapple fluff, and this Snickers salad.

Yeah, that’s right. I said the word “Snickers” and “salad” in the same sentence!

This is one of those recipes where the phrase “don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it” comes to mind. It sounds strange, but the end result is absolutely delicious. 

Add this to your own holiday menus and I know it’ll disappear in no time.

What is Snickers salad?

I first learned about Snickers salad during our first trip to the apple orchard with Elle when she was a baby.

While talking about apple recipes, my aunt mentioned this one – a recipe that her friend had given her. She claimed it was so good that she made it twice in one day. Once for a work function and the other to scarf down in the comfort of her own home.

Whenever someone tells me they’ve made a recipe twice in one day, it immediately jumps to the top of my must-make list.

I came home and immediately whipped up my own batch of Snickers salad and totally fell in love.

Now, I am fully aware that calling anything that utilizes Snickers candy bars as an ingredient a “salad” is quite a stretch.

But since there are apples involved, we can all just let the whole salad thing slide, right? Especially since we fully recognize that this is 100% a dessert.

Sort of like how some people call fluff recipes “fluff salad.” I mean, we know that strawberry cheesecake fluff is definitely a dessert. So is lemon jello salad.

In the case of Snickers salad, the recipe is made up of diced granny smith apples, pudding, whipped topping, and chopped Snickers bars. It’s the perfect mix of crunchy, creamy, tart, sweet, and decadent.

If you really want to take it over the top (at this point, why wouldn’t you?), you can drizzle it with salted caramel sauce before serving.

How to make my version of Snickers salad

The best thing about dessert salads is that they’re so easy to make. No-bake, only a handful of ingredients, and very little hands-on time required. 

Pretty much perfect when need something delicious for dessert but don’t have a lot of extra time on your hands!

Ingredients you’ll need

For my version of Snickers apple salad, you will need:

• 1 ½ cups cold milk 
• 1 (3.4 ounce) box instant cheesecake pudding mix 
• 8 ounces thawed Cool Whip
• 4 large chopped Granny Smith apples 
• 4 full-size Snickers bars, chopped into bite-size pieces
• homemade salted caramel sauce for serving (optional)

I know that instant vanilla pudding mix is more traditional for this recipe, but like to use cheesecake pudding mix because, um, it’s cheesecake flavored.

(Hello, my name is Jamie and I love cheesecake.)

I usually use Cool Whip in this recipe, but TruWhip will also work. If you don’t like using whipped topping, you can use stabilized whipped cream instead.

For the apples, I really suggest using granny smith apples. There are a lot of times I’ll recommend honeycrisp apples or another slightly sweeter apple, but I think tart is better here.

The tartness of the granny smith apples really helps balance the sweetness of the pudding mix and candy bars so the whole thing doesn’t become too sweet.

If you love the idea of Snickers salad but can’t have peanuts, you could make this recipe with Milky Way bars (aka Mars Bars) or even Twix bars.

Making this recipe

Grab a large bowl and thoroughly whisk together the pudding mix and the milk. Set this aside for 3 minutes to let the pudding mixture set up a bit.

Now grab a rubber spatula and fold in the thawed whipped topping, then fold in the chopped apples and candy bars.

Cover and refrigerate the salad for at least 2 hours before serving.

For even more caramel goodness, drizzle the salad with some salted caramel sauce just before serving.

Snickers salad is best served the day it is made, but you can keep leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.

Recipe variations

I’ve seen many variations of Snickers salad or caramel apple salad online using different flavors of pudding and even different candy bars.

The most popular version, and the one I like best, uses Snickers candy bars. But you could use Milky Way candy bars or even Twix.

Any candy bar with caramel in it would be great!

I really like the light tanginess that using cheesecake pudding adds to this recipe, but you don’t have to go that route.

Vanilla pudding is classic, but white chocolate pudding mix would also be delicious.

Just make sure you’re using instant pudding mix, not cook-and-serve.

If you’re looking for a simple and delicious recipe to bring to all of your potlucks and parties, Snickers salad is just the recipe for you.

It’s a few simple ingredients, and since it’s pretty decadent, small bites are totally appropriate. Meaning this recipe can stretch and stretch to feed a crowd.

Now that’s what I call a winner.