Candy Corn Marshmallow Squares will be everyone’s favorite treat at your Halloween party! Made from fluffy mini marshmallows in a fudgy butterscotch and peanut butter base, these sweet squares are topped with candy corn and salted peanuts.
On a day when everyone is obsessed with candy, I think that the best thing to do is to embrace it, and eat more candy in the form of these candy corn marshmallow squares!
This marshmallow squares recipe turns a classic Halloween candy into a sweet, salty, crunchy, creamy, and chewy candy bar.
I understand if some of you reading may not enjoy candy corn. It’s one of those snacks that you either really like, or really don’t. If that’s the case you might want to check out our other Halloween recipes, like Halloween Sugar Cookies and Dracula Cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to Make Candy: This recipe is so simple. You just need to melt the chips, mix in some marshmallows, and toss everything into a pan. There’s no baking involved, and you can even do the cooking in the microwave if you want to!
- A Classic, Reimagined. Peanut butter marshmallow squares have been on dessert and cookie platters everywhere for many years. The more plain version, sometimes called “confetti squares” or “goodie bars” are popular at holidays. Adding candy corn just makes them more fun, and perfect for Halloween.
- 6 Ingredients. Nothing fancy is needed to make these candy squares! If bake cookies regularly, you might even have them all in the house already.
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
- Baking Chips: You need two different types of chips for this recipe: Butterscotch and Peanut Butter. Trust me, they work together beautifully.
- Peanut Butter: Smooth peanut butter works best here. We’ll add whole peanuts later so crunchy peanut butter would be a bit too much. When making candy, I suggest using a traditional peanut butter rather than natural style that needs to be stirred.
- Peanuts: Pick up a can or bag of salted peanuts. Avoid Spanish peanuts with the papery hulls. The salt from the peanuts helps to balance all of the sweetness in these bars.
- Miniature Marshmallows: Fluffy little pillows of marshmallow are nestled into the peanut butter fudge.
- Candy Corn: Pick up a bag at the store when the Halloween goodies start to show up or use this recipe as a way to use up any leftovers.
How to Make Candy Corn Marshmallow Squares
- Melt the Peanut Butter: Add the peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, and peanut butter to a large saucepan. Melt over medium heat, stirring frequently until the mixture is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Or, Use the Microwave: Add the chips and peanut butter to a microwaveable bowl and heat at 30-second increments, stirring after each.
- Mix: Let the mixture cool down for a minute or two, then stir in 1 cup of peanuts and the mini marshmallows, making sure that everything is well coated.
- Make the Bars: Spread the mixture evenly into a 9×13 pan that you’ve lined with foil and lightly greased.
- Add Toppings: Sprinkle the remaining half cup of peanuts and the candy corn over the top of the bars.
- Chill: Refrigerate your candy bars for at least two hours so that they can set up firmly. Cut into 24 squares and serve cold.
No Bake Dessert Making Tools
- Pyrex Mixing Bowls: There’s something about these clear glass mixing bowls that brings me back to baking with my mother. They are a must for me, even though I’ve tried other bowls, I still come back to these every time.
- Glass Pyrex Baking Dish: This 2 quart rectangular glass dish is perfect for this recipe.
- Hand Mixer: No need to use a fancy stand mixer when a hand mixer does the job just fine. I use this one from Kitchenaid.
- Measuring Cups and Spoons: This set from OXO is just so well designed! There are magnets in the handles so they stack and stick to each other perfectly.
Recipe Tips
- Instead of Candy Corn, or in addition to it, try adding chopped candy bars. This is a great recipe when you have a lot of trick-or-treat leftovers to get rid of!
- To keep the marshmallows from melting, you can freeze them before mixing them into the hot peanut butter mixture. You can also let the mixture cool down just a bit so that melting won’t happen.
- You can use other nuts, such as chopped walnuts, cashews, or almonds in place of the peanuts. You can also leave the nuts out altogether. Add a handful of extra marshmallows to the mix instead.
- Swap out some of the marshmallows for something crispy, like rice cereal, I actually have the recipe for you! Check out my Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats Recipe. You could also try shredded coconut, just be sure that you keep the total amount of add-ins the same.
More Haloween Treat Recipes
- Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Halloween Sugar Cookies
- Pumpkin Spice Pudding Cookies
- Harry Potter’s Butterbeer Cookies
FAQs
I’m going to classify these treats as a candy. They are flourless and no-bake and are cut into small pieces. Marshmallow bars are a very simple to make, fudge-like candy.
Yes, this dessert freezes quite well. You can freeze the entire pan before you cut it up, or freeze the individual squares. Either way, store them in an airtight container and keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
This dessert is commonly made at Christmas, just without the candy corn on top. You can use different candies to match any theme or celebration that you have coming up.
Enjoy making these fun and easy no-bake Candy Corn Marshmallow Bars! They are going to be a hit at your Halloween gatherings for sure. Be sure to Pin this recipe so you can find it again next time.
Candy Corn Marshmallow Squares
Ingredients
- 10 ounce bag peanut butter chips
- 11 ounce bag butterscotch chips
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1 ½ cups salted peanuts divided
- 10 ounce bag miniature marshmallows
- 1 cup candy corn
Instructions
- Line a 9×13 pan with foil, and lightly grease with butter or cooking spray.
- Add the peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, and peanut butter to a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until the mixture is smooth.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for 1-2 minutes. Then add 1 cup of peanuts and the mini marshmallows. Stir to combine, making sure that everything is well coated.
- Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan.
- Sprinkle the remaining cup of peanuts and the candy cane over the bars.
- Refrigerate for at least two hours, until set firmly. Cut into 24 squares.
Microwave Instructions:
- Follow all of the above steps, but instead of heating the chips and peanut butter on the stove, add them to a large microwaveable bowl. Heat at 30-second increments, stirring after each until the mixture is smooth.
Notes
- Your baking chips should come in 10 or 11-ounce packages. It’s ok if they are slightly more or less, as different brands are packaged differently.
- To keep the marshmallows from melting, you can freeze them before mixing them into the hot peanut butter mixture. You can also let the mixture cool down just a bit so that melting won’t happen.
- You can use other nuts, such as chopped walnuts, cashews, or almonds in place of the peanuts. You can also leave the nuts out altogether. Add a handful of extra marshmallows to the mix instead.
- Swap out some of the marshmallows for something crispy, like rice cereal. You could also try shredded coconut, just be sure that you keep the total amount of add-ins the same.
- To Store: Keep these in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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