It's Almost Too Easy To Make 3 Musketeers-Inspired Candy

When the leaves start to change and fall rolls around, grocery stores become filled with big, glorious candy bags! And one of my all-time favorite candies is a classic 3 Musketeers bar, due to its creamy soft center and chocolate shell. If you can't wait for the bags of chocolate bars to be in store, you can easily make the chocolate bar at home with three simple ingredients: Cool Whip, milk chocolate chips, and vegetable shortening.

The key thing in making these homemade versions of 3 Musketeers bars is the Cool Whip because the center of a real one comes with whipped nougat. Nougat can be made with sugar or honey, which is then cooked and whipped with egg whites to aerate it, making it fluffy. It can also include nuts or candied fruits. For your homemade version, don't forget to add vegetable shortening to your outer layer of chocolate, which makes it easier to melt and smoother.

For this recipe, the melted chocolate and whipped cream create a soft and dense texture, somewhat mimicking what you would get from a real version. When I made them, I used reduced-fat Cool Whip and Ghirardelli chocolate tips and surprisingly, they did taste very similar to the real thing. For just three ingredients, it is very much worth the time to make!

To make your 3 Musketeers bars, simply melt the chocolate in the microwave or on the stove method, which requires melting the chocolate over a pot of simmering water. After it is melted, combine the chocolate and Cool Whip and mix until smooth. Place the mixture into a parchment-paper-lined baking dish and spread it out flat.

Put the dish in the freezer for a few hours until it is hard enough to cut into bars. Once they are hard enough, cut them into whatever size you desire. I did about the length of my ring finger and almost an inch thick. The final step is to dip them in the chocolate that you melted with the vegetable shortening, similar to how you would dip a strawberry and put them in the fridge until ready to feed the late-night cravings. You can add this to your list of easy snacks, such as an Oreo mug cake that requires just two ingredients.

For those who love a little crunch, you could also add your favorite toppings as the chocolate coating is drying. Think sliced almonds, chopped pecans, or coconut shavings.