Homemade Milky Way Bars (Allergy Friendly!)

These Homemade Copycat Milky Way Bars are super rich and chocolatey! They are coated in a smooth chocolate shell and filled with homemade marshmallow nougat with thick and creamy caramel. They are just like the store-bought milky ways you love, but made even better from scratch.

Homemade milky way bars stacked on top of each other with one sliced in half to show the nougat and caramel inside.

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Why You'll Love These Homemade Milky Ways
Ingredients
Instructions
Substitutions and Alterations
How to Store Homemade Milky Way Bars
Top tip!
Recipe FAQs
Related Recipes
Homemade Milky Way Bars (Allergy Friendly!)
Reviews

Why You'll Love These Homemade Milky Ways

So rich and decadent! These homemade milky way bars taste nearly identical to the store-bought kind, but with that homemade, higher-quality-chocolate taste. They're rich, creamy, and filled with a fluffy marshmallow nougat and caramel filling.
Allergy friendly for all dessert eaters! This recipe can be made with traditional ingredients, but it can also easily be made vegan and allergy friendly too. Serve a diverse crowd with these allergy friendly candy bars simply by swapping the butter for a non dairy kind, the marshmallows for vegan ones, and the sweetened condensed milk for a dairy free alternative.
Made with better ingredients! Store-bought milky ways have lots of additives. When you make these ones homemade, you get to pick the quality of ingredients that go into them. I also created a recipe for Homemade Candy Corn that uses better ingredients too, so you can pick and choose what candies you prefer to make from scratch.
Perfect as a homemade Halloween treat! Homemade candy bars, like these milky ways, these Take 5s, or this Halloween Candy Bark, are a great treat for spooky season. Eat them throughout October or serve them as a Halloween party dessert.

Ingredients

A few notes about the ingredients:

Mini Marshmallows: You can use either vegan or regular mini marshmallows, depending on your dietary needs. Mini marshmallows melt better than the larger ones, so they're recommended for this recipe. If using vegan marshmallows, they might not melt all the way, but that is okay.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: I like using semi-sweet chocolate to help balance the sweetness of the caramel and the marshmallows in the bars. You can use milk chocolate or dark chocolate if you prefer.
Kosher Salt: Salt helps balance the sweetness as well. It also gives the bars a little more flavor, but does not make them taste salty.
Sweetened Condensed Milk: You can use regular sweetened condensed milk, or if you are looking for an allergy friendly/vegan alternative, you can use sweetened condensed oat milk or sweetened condensed coconut milk instead. I found both at my local Whole Foods store.
Coconut Oil: Coconut oil gets added to the chocolate coating so that it melts more smoothly. It thins out the melted chocolate so it better coats each bar. If you don't want to use coconut oil, you can use butter (or vegan butter) or another flavorless oil, like avocado oil.

⭐️ See recipe card below for descriptions and quantities of each ingredient. Then, watch this brief tutorial on Instagram!

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare a 9-inch square baking pan by lining it with parchment paper.
Step 2: Make the nougat - In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter.

Marshmallows cooked in a large pot with butter.

Step 3: Add the mini marshmallows. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring intermittently, until marshmallows are melted. Turn off the heat.

Step 4: In the last minute that the marshmallows are cooking, add ¾ cup of chocolate chips to a bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted and smooth.

Marshmallows melted in a pot, then stirred together with melted chocolate.

Step 5: Add the vanilla extract and salt to the marshmallows. Stir to combine. Then pour the melted chocolate into the marshmallows and mix until mostly combined. It’s okay if there are still some white streaks.

Marshmallow and chocolate mixture pressed into a square baking pan.

Step 6: Pour the marshmallows into the prepared pan and spread evenly from edge to edge. They may look a bit odd, but they’ll spread out as you press on them. Then, they will solidify as they cool.

Sweetened condensed milk microwaved in a bowl to create caramel.

Step 7: Make the caramel - Add sweetened condensed oat milk to a large microwave safe bowl (so it has enough space to bubble up). Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 5 minutes. Remove caramel from the microwave and stir with a spatula or whisk. The caramel should be golden brown and bubbly. Allow to cool for 8 to 10 minutes. It will thicken as it cools.

Caramel spread on top of homemade marshmallow nougat in a baking pan.

Step 8: Pour caramel on top of the marshmallow nougat in the baking pan. Spread it out from edge to edge. Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 1 hour.

Homemade nougat and caramel cut into bars on a baking sheet.

Step 9: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Once caramel has set, transfer the nougat to a cutting board and cut into 24 rectangular pieces. Transfer pieces to the lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for about 10 minutes so the caramel can set again.

Step 10: Make the coating - In a microwave safe bowl, add 3 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 6 ½ teaspoons coconut oil. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted and smooth.

Step 11: While chocolate melts, line another baking sheet with parchment paper.

Homemade milky way bars coated in melted chocolate on a baking sheet.

Step 12: Dip each piece of nougat/caramel into the melted chocolate, coating all sides. Then transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. Continue with all pieces of nougat/caramel until all are coated. If the caramel and nougat becomes too soft to dip as you go, you may need to refreeze for another 10 minutes before finishing.

A swirl of melted chocolate added to the top of homemade milky way bars.

Step 13: Place baking sheet in the refrigerator until chocolate hardens. If you want to add another drizzle of chocolate over top to fully resemble store-bought milky ways, you can do so by melting chocolate in a zip top bag and cutting off a small piece of the corner. Then, drizzle on top of each bar. You can also add flaky sea salt on top too.

⭐️ Tip: When making the nougat, you’ll want to work fairly quickly. Overcooking the marshmallows will cause them to burn or harden prematurely. Make sure the chocolate is ready to be poured in as soon as the marshmallows are done melting.

Substitutions and Alterations

Dairy Free Butter - If you don't have any dietary restrictions, regular unsalted better works just as well.
Vegan Marshmallows - If you don't have any dietary restrictions, regular mini marshmallows work just as well.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips - I like semi-sweet chocolate chips to balance the sweetness of the other ingredients. However, if you prefer, you can use milk chocolate or dark chocolate instead.
Sweetened Condensed Oat Milk - Both sweetened condensed coconut milk or regular sweetened condensed milk would work instead.
Coconut Oil - If you don't want to use coconut oil, use some of the dairy free butter or a flavorless oil, like avocado oil, instead.

Allergy friendly milky way bars stacked on a serving dish.

How to Store Homemade Milky Way Bars

To store: Store these allergy friendly milky way bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 10 days.

To freeze: You can also freeze these homemade milky ways by placing them in a large zip top bag and storing them in your freezer for up to 6 months.

Top tip!

It will be messy to cut the nougat into pieces. I highly recommend running your knife under hot water, drying it off, then spraying it with nonstick spray for clean, even cuts. In between cuts, you may need to rinse your knife and spray again.

Homemade milky ways sliced to show the nougat and caramel filling in the middle.

Recipe FAQs

Do milky ways have nuts?

Nope! The typical store-bought milky ways don't have nuts in them and neither do these copycat ones.

What's inside of a milky way bar?

Store-bought milky way bars have a layer of chocolate nougat, topped with a layer of chewy caramel. On the outside, they're wrapped in a milk chocolate coating.

Looking for more homemade treat recipes? Try these:

Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know. Leave a comment with a rating at the bottom of this page!