Healthy Candy Bar Apple Salad Recipe - Cupcakes & Kale Chips (2024)

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Apple Candy Bar Salad is a healthy twist on the classic Snicker Salad recipe with yummy cheesecake flavor. You won’t miss out on any of the sweet and creamy deliciousness since it is made with Greek yogurt, honey, dark chocolate, and peanuts instead of whipped topping and Snickers candy bars. It’s sure to be your new favorite fruit salad that you can have for breakfast or a snack, but totally tastes indulgent enough for dessert!

Originally published Dec 1, 2016

I grew up in the same small town where my mom and my grandfather grew up. It was a mostly Polish and Italian town long before the days of the Food Network and the internet. So other than my mom’s hankering for enchiladas, I knew nothing of what people ate in other parts of the country, much less the world.

Of course, I ate jello, but to me, something like a Creamsicle Jello Mold was dessert. Fruit salad was also usually one of the barbecue or picnic desserts, as opposed to being served alongside baked beans.

As I started meeting people from all over the country and perusing Facebook and Pinterest for recipes, I discovered that there’s this whole segment of our fine nation that eats gelatin-based dishes as a side dish to their meal.

And then there’s the whole world of fluff and seafoam and cheesecake salad. That people eat with their meal! As a side dish. Like seriously, Snickers with dinner.

Mind blown, people. Mind blown.

And I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I can get on that gravy train (jello train?) just yet. But maybe, just maybe if I made it a wee bit healthier while still keeping the sweetness (and the CHOCOLATE!) you might convince me that this can at least be part of breakfast or brunch…

Healthy Snickers Salad Recipe

While I might prefer to enjoy it as dessert, if you want to serve this Copycat Snickers Salad with your dinner, go for it! Why? Well, this Healthy Apple Candy Bar Salad still has the creaminess, chocolate, and peanuts from the usual Snickers salad, but with a few simple swaps. You still get all the best parts of a candy bar, but you can totally feel good about eating it any time of the day or night!

What is Snickers Salad?

Apple Snicker Salad is a popular potluck recipe, often served as a side dish or sometimes as a dessert. It typically consists of chopped Granny Smith apples and Snickers bars tossed in a mixture of Cool Whip, vanilla pudding mix, cream cheese, and milk. Sometimes it is drizzled with caramel and topped with even more chopped chocolate bars.

What is in this healthy candy bar apple salad?

Switching out a few ingredients reduces the sugar and artificial ingredients, but still gives you the sweet “dressing”, plus the chocolate and peanuts from the candy bars.

• Greek yogurt – keeps the creaminess from the classic recipe.
• Cream cheese – to add that distinctive cheesecake flavor.
• Vanilla extract – enhances all the flavors.
• Honey – adds sweetness and is drizzled on top to add the bit of sticky goodness.
• Apples – it wouldn’t be an apple salad without them. Since this salad isn’t as sweet as the original, you might want to opt for red delicious or gala or another sweeter apple instead of the traditional Granny Smith.
• Chopped dark chocolate – by using dark chocolate you reduce the sugar a bit more and get lots of good antioxidants. But you can use any chocolate you prefer or even mini chocolate chips.
• Peanuts – add chopped roasted, salted peanuts to the salad and garnish with some more on top, if desired.

How do you make Apple Candy Bar Salad? Here are some tips…

1. Allow your cream cheese to come to room temperature so that when you combine it with the other ingredients it gets nice and smooth.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the Greek yogurt, cream cheese, vanilla, and honey. You can stir with a spatula or whisk, but a hand mixer also works nicely to really get it smooth. I have this very basic Hamilton Beach Hand Mixer and it does the job! I love that it has a whisk attachment in addition to the usual beaters.
3. Peel your apples, and chop into about 1/2 inch cubes. This does not have to be precise and you can adjust the size to your preference.
4. Chop the chocolate and peanuts to the size you desire. I like having larger pieces and smaller flecks.
5. Stir all of that into the yogurt and cream cheese mixture.
6. Spoon into a serving bowl or individual bowls and garnish with more peanuts and a drizzle of honey.

Do you peel the apples for candy bar salad?

That is up to you. I prefer to peel apples for my fruit salad, but you can opt to not peel them.

Can I make it the day before?

Yes, this fruit salad will hold up well in the refrigerator for a day or two, and that will allow the flavors to fully develop. You will just want to add the extra topping of peanuts and honey right before serving.

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Enjoy these other fruit salad recipes:

• Waldorf Fruit Salad with Yogurt
• Tropical Fruit Parfaits with Coconut Chia Cream
• Mango Berry Salad

And here are more other apple snacks:

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Apple Dip
• Peanut Butter Apple Nachos with Strawberry Salsa
• Cinnamon Apple Breakfast Bars
• DIY Yogurt Stuffed Apples
• Apple Crisp Yogurt Parfaits
• Or just dunk your apples in Cheesecake Fruit Dip or Peanut Butter Hummus

Healthy Candy Bar Apple Salad Recipe

A cross between Snicker Salad and Cheesecake Salad, this fruit salad is sweet enough for dessert, but can also be a healthy snack or breakfast. Apples, peanuts, and chocolate are tossed in a creamy mixture of Greek yogurt, cream cheese, and honey for an easy treat everyone will love. Make a healthier swap with all the flavors you love when you make this Apple Candy Bar Salad.

I hope you’ll leave a comment and give it a FIVE STAR rating or share a photo on this pin on Pinterest!

Enjoy!