Chocolate and caramel are perfect with crunchy peanuts in this Easy Snickers Bar Cake that starts with a box mix.

When you crave a chocolate cake and a candy bar at the same time this super easy recipe with caramel and sweetened condensed milk is the way to go!

Devil's food cake soaked in Snickers flavors with a thick layer of Cool Whip and chopped candy bars on top sitting on a small white plate next to the pan full

If you like this recipe you may also enjoy our Best Chocolate Cake From A Box or Milk Chocolate Covered Almonds.

Snickers Cake Recipe

Gooey caramel and sweet milk soak into all of the holes in this Snickers Poke Cake recipe make the most amazing base layer. I love that it starts with a box of cake mix!

Top this poke cake with a thick layer of whipped topping, chopped Snickers bars and peanuts for your own super easy homemade Snickers Cake!

This cake was inspired by our Heath Bar Cake which has been very popular in our family and on Pinterest! So we realized we needed to convert that box mix cake to feature the classic caramel, peanut and chocolate flavors of a Snickers Bar.

Fork full of cake laying in front of a piece of Snickers Poke Cake which is moist with sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping in a chocolate cake

This cake would also taste delicious using Snickers Almond Bars and substituting the peanuts on top with the almonds.

Our obsession with taking a box mix of cake and making it better includes our Orange Cake with Pineapple Icing and Glazed Rum Bundt Cake. The semi-homemade options are truly endless on how to enhance cake box mixes.

Candy Bar Cake

We have quite the collection of Candy Bar Cakes that began with my all-time favorite Milky Way Cake.

Snickers Candy Bars are so popular we had to give this one a try. And these ingredients are so easy to keep in the pantry.

A couple years ago I made this 3 Musketeers Cake for my husband’s birthday out of his absolute favorite candy bar. More recently we’ve made O’ Joy Brownie Bars with a box mix of brownies.

Snickers Bar next to 9x13 pan of Snickers Cake made from chocolate cake box mix

Ingredients Needed

Box of Devil’s Food Cake Mix
Eggs
Vegetable oil
Sweetened condensed milk
Caramel flavored topping
Snickers candy bars
Cool Whip
Peanuts

Box of cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil, Fun size Snickers candy bars, can of sweetened condensed milk, caramel topping, peanuts and whipping topping to make a Snickers Cake on a brown countertop

How to Keep a Snickers Poke Cake Moist

When baking a box mix I always take the lower end of the baking range and knock a few minutes off of that.

When the timer goes off I look at it and give the pan a shake. If it still looks like jello in the center I add 5 – 10 minutes.

I use a toothpick and test the center of the cake if it looks close to being done. If it comes out clean or almost clean I take the cake out of the oven and cover it with foil to hold in all remaining moisture.

Snickers Bars chopped up on top of a chocolate cake with sweet caramel Snickers flavors on a white napkin with red stripes

Know that you can always add more baking time, but you can’t take it away or undo what’s already been baked.

Adding the caramel syrup and sweetened condensed milk also gives an amazing new dimension to the idea of keeping a cake moist.

Tips For Making Snickers Caramel Cake

My kids usually poke the holes in this cake – there is no exact rule, just try no to over lap or really enlarge holes
Devil’s food cake mix can be substituted for any chocolate cake mix if needed
Caramel sauce can be substituted for melted caramels or most any gooey caramel flavored sauce that is pourable
The recipe calls for 3-4 chopped full sized Snickers bars, but get more because the pieces seem to disappear during the chopping process or when I leave the room
Fun-sized bars can be chopped up or Snickers bite could just be sprinkled straight on top
You can really put any type of candy of top of this cake that you want
Be sure to defrost 2 – 8-ounce packages of Cool Whip or one larger container – more whipped topping does make the cake better
Chocolate syrup and caramel sauce can also be sprinkled on top if desired

Overhead view of rich and moist Snickers Candy poke cake with Cool Whip and chopped Snickers bars on top sitting on a white plate on a white and red napkin

How To Make A Snickers Bar Cake

Make a box mix of chocolate cake according to directions on the box. We like devil’s food cake mix for this recipe.

Box of chocolate cake mix in a bowl with an egg, vegetable oil and water

Take the round end of a wooden spoon and make several holes in the top of the entire cake.

Handle on a wooden spoon poking holes in a chocolate Devil's food cake in a glass 9 x 13" baking dish

Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly across the top of the cake allowing the sauce to soak into the holes.

Can of sweetened condensed milk poured over Snickers poke cake

Pour caramel sauce over the top. I like to use mini silicone spatulas to completely clean out the jar.

Jar of caramel topping poured over chocolate poke cake

Refrigerate for 1 – 2 hours until the cake is chilled.

While the cake is chilling is a great time to chop the candy bars if you think they’ll be safe for an hour or so.

Add a nice thick layer of Cool Whip which is one and a half to two regular-sized tubs. Or one larger package of whipped topping.

Sprinkled chopped candy bars and peanuts on top.

9 x 13 Snickers cake from a box mix covered with Cool Whip on a moist chocolate poke cake

This cake tastes best when chilled (so be sure to store in the refrigerator) and should be enjoyed within 1 – 2 days. The base layer can be prepared ahead of time, but wait to add whipped topping until ready to serve.