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    Home » Recipes » Candy

    Homemade Wunderbars

    Published: Dec 3, 2021

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    Wunderbars are a popular Canadian candy bar, also known as Starbar in other countries. These Homemade Wunderbars are easy to make, and tasty!

    Several Homemade Wunderbars, piled on amaple leaf shaped wooden cutting board.

    The holidays are coming up, and with it... candy-making season!

    Today, I’m sharing a recipe that will make your expat Canadian - and British - friends VERY happy - homemade Wunderbars!

    This is a recipe that I developed for More Than Poutine: Favourite Foods from my Home and Native Land. Not only was it a hit with my Canadian expat friends in the area, my American friends LOVED it.

    These take a little bit of work to make, but are totally worth it - especially when you lack access to the source material, like I did when I created this recipe!

    What is a Wunderbar?

    A Wunderbar - Also known as a Starbar in the UK - is a Cadbury candy bar that’s very popular in Canada. It’s been around since 1976.

    The center is a crispy, peanutty filling, enrobed in a thick, chewy caramel.

    The whole thing is dipped in chocolate... and that’s a Wunderbar. Simple, but tasty!

    Several Homemade Wunderbars, piled on amaple leaf shaped wooden cutting board.

    What is in a Wunderbar?

    The ingredients for the commercially made bars are:

    Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Peanuts, Modified Milk Ingredients, Modified Palm Oil, Modified Vegetable Oil, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, Unsweetened Chocolate, Rice Crisps (Rice, Sugar, Salt, Malt Extract (Barley, Wheat), Monoglycerides), Cocoa Butter, Salt, Calcium Chloride, Sodium Bicarbonate, Soy Lecithin, Natural and Artificial Flavors.

    The ingredients for my homemade version are:

    Milk chocolate chips
    Crisp rice cereal
    Light brown sugar
    Confectioner’s sugar
    Creamy peanut butter
    Butter
    Corn syrup
    Sweetened condensed milk
    Shortening
    Vanilla extract
    Salt

    Several Homemade Wunderbars, piled on amaple leaf shaped wooden cutting board.

    Are Wunderbars Gluten-Free?

    The commercially made, source material is NOT gluten-free - the malt syrup is made from barley and wheat.

    While this can be fine for some people, it’s decidedly NOT celiac friendly.

    That said, it’s possible to make them gluten-free - just be sure to use gluten-free crispy rice cereal.

    A Note About the Nutritional Facts

    The nutritional facts in the recipe card are way off, as this makes more caramel than you will use for a batch of bars.

    It's just not practical to make - and use - a smaller batch, and the software isn't such that it can take that into account!


    Several Homemade Wunderbars, piled on amaple leaf shaped wooden cutting board.

    How to Make Homemade Wunderbars

    The full recipe follows at the end of this post, here’s a quick walkthrough.

    Make the Filling

    In a stand mixer, beat peanut butter, vanilla extract, and salt together until smooth and well combined.

    Add cereal, beat well, until cereal is broken up and fully incorporated. Add powdered sugar, beat on low until sugar is completely mixed in.

    With clean hands, knead the mixture slightly to bring together.

    Divide into 8 equal-sized balls, roll into logs about ¾" in diameter.

    8 logs of Wunderbar filling, resting on a parchment lined baking sheet.

    Freeze while you prepare the dipping caramel:

    Make the Dipping Caramel

    In a large saucepan, combine everything except the vanilla extract. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.

    Once boiling, affix a candy thermometer to the pan. Make sure the tip of the thermometer is in the sugar mixture, but not touching the bottom of the pan.

    A pot of boiling caramel.

    Boil - stirring constantly - until mixture reaches 240 F (115 C).

    Once the mixture reaches 240F (115 C), remove from heat, stir in the vanilla, and set aside. I like to pour it into a glass loaf pan - it's the perfect shape for dipping the bars!

    A rectangular baking dish filled with caramel.

    Allow to cool for 5 minutes, before dipping anything in it, line a baking sheet or flat work area with parchment paper.

    Carefully dip your frozen filling logs into the warm dipping caramel.

    Allow excess to drip off, before transferring to parchment paper. Allow to cool and fully set before proceeding.

    A logs of Wunderbar filling that have been dipped in caramel and are resting on a parchment lined baking sheet.

    Make the Dipping Chocolate

    Either in the top of a double boiler - or in a glass bowl, microwaved for 30 seconds at a time - carefully melt chocolate and shortening together, stirring well until smooth.

    If chocolate is too thick for dipping, add a little more shortening, once again stirring well until smooth.

    Carefully dip each bar into chocolate, allow excess to drop off, and transfer back to parchment paper.

    Keep chocolate warm while dipping, as it thickens as it cools.

    Allow bars to set before transferring to covered storage container.

    Several Homemade Wunderbars, piled on amaple leaf shaped wooden cutting board.

    More Canadian Comfort Food!

    Whether you’re a Canadian in the US or not, we could all use some comfort food these days. Here are some Canadian Favourites!

    Back Bacon / Canadian Bacon
    Beep
    Canadian Popcorn Seasoning Recipes
    Clodhoppers
    Confetti Bars
    Dill Pickle Cream Cheese Dip
    Doughnut Holes - Timbits!
    French Canadian Pea Soup
    Halifax Meat Paste Egg Rolls
    Homemade Deep N Delicious Cake
    How to Make Peameal Bacon and Back Bacon
    Maple Butter Tarts
    Montreal Bagels
    Persians Recipe
    Poutine, My Way!
    Puffed Wheat Squares
    Replica Swiss Chalet Sauce
    Tiger Tail Ice Cream

    Looking for even more Canadian recipes? Check out our full Canadian Recipes list!

    My Canadian Cookbook!

    Cover image for the "More Than Poutine" cookbook.

    This recipe is one of many fantastic Canadian recipes in my cookbook, "More Than Poutine: Favourite Foods from my Home and Native Land”. "More than Poutine" is a Canadian cookbook like no other - written by a Canadian living away, it includes both traditional home cooking recipes, as well as accurate homemade versions of many of the snacks, sauces, convenience foods, and other food items that are hard to come by outside of Canada! Order your copy here on this site, through Amazon, or through any major bookseller!

    Several Homemade Wunderbars, piled on amaple leaf shaped wooden cutting board.

    Share the Love!

    Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you Instagram it, be sure to tag me - @CelebrationGenerationCA - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!

    Also, be sure to subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense.

    Well, the published nonsense, anyway!

    Several Homemade Wunderbars, piled on amaple leaf shaped wooden cutting board.

    Several Homemade Wunderbars, piled on amaple leaf shaped wooden cutting board.
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    5 from 1 vote

    Homemade Wunderbars

    Wunderbars are a popular Canandian candy bar, also known as Starbar in other countries. These Homemade Wunderbars are easy to make, and tasty!
    Prep Time30 minutes mins
    Cook Time20 minutes mins
    Chilling / Setting time2 hours hrs
    Total Time2 hours hrs 50 minutes mins
    Course: Snack
    Cuisine: Canadian
    Diet: Gluten Free
    Servings: 8 Candy Bars
    Calories: 1233kcal
    Author: Marie Porter

    Equipment

    Candy Thermometer

    Ingredients

    Filling:

    • 1 cup Creamy peanut butter
    • ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
    • ½ teaspoon Salt
    • 2 ½ cups Crisp rice cereal
    • 1 ½ cups Icing powdered/confectioner sugar

    Dipping Caramel:

    • 2 cups Light brown sugar firmly packed
    • 14 oz Sweetened condensed milk 396 g
    • 1 cup Butter
    • 1 cup Corn syrup
    • ¼ teaspoon Salt
    • 1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract

    Dipping Chocolate:

    • 24 oz Milk chocolate chips 2 bags
    • 2 tablespoon Shortening

    Instructions

    Filling:

    • In a stand mixer, beat peanut butter, vanilla extract, and salt together until smooth and well combined.
    • Add cereal, beat well, until cereal is broken up and fully incorporated.
    • Add powdered sugar, beat on low until sugar is completely mixed in.
    • With clean hands, knead mixture slightly to bring together.
    • Divide into 8 equal sized balls, roll into logs about ¾" in diameter.
    • Freeze while you prepare the dipping caramel:

    Dipping Caramel:

    • In a large saucepan, combine everything except the vanilla extract.
    • Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
    • Once boiling, affix a candy thermometer to the pan. Make sure the tip of the thermometer is in the sugar mixture, but not touching the bottom of the pan.
    • Boil - stirring constantly - until mixture reaches 240 F (115 C).
    • Once mixture reaches 240F (115 C), remove from heat, stir in the vanilla, and set aside.
    • Allow to cool for 5 minutes, before dipping anything in it.
    • Line a baking sheet or flat work area with parchment paper.
    • Carefully dip your frozen filling logs into the warm dipping caramel.
    • Allow excess to drip off, before transferring to parchment paper. Allow to cool and fully set before proceeding.

    Dipping Chocolate:

    • Either in the top of a double boiler - or in a glass bowl, microwaved for 30 seconds at a time - carefully melt chocolate and shortening together, stirring well until smooth.
    • If chocolate is too thick for dipping, add a little more shortening, once again stirring well until smooth.
    • Carefully dip each bar into chocolate, allow excess to drop off, and transfer back to parchment paper.
    • Keep chocolate warm while dipping, as it thickens as it cools.
    • Allow bars to set before transferring to covered storage container.

    Notes

    Note: The nutritional facts are way off, as this makes more caramel than you will use for a batch of bars.
    It's just not practical to make a smaller batch, and the software isn't such that it can take that into account!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 1233kcal | Carbohydrates: 175g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 59g | Saturated Fat: 29g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 689mg | Potassium: 482mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 162g | Vitamin A: 842IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 214mg | Iron: 1mg

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Matt

      July 20, 2022 at 7:28 pm

      So when do you add the vanilla extract to the dipping caramel?

      Reply
      • Marie Porter

        July 21, 2022 at 1:41 pm

        Oops, looks like I left that out! Fixed it!

        Reply

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    Marie Porter


    Evil Cake Overlord, All -Around Kitchen Badass!

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