Homemade Whatchamacallits

This post may look like it’s made up of chocolate, peanut butter, and dulce de leche, but it’s really based on love.

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See, Nick loves Whatchamacallit candy bars. They’re his new thing.

Anytime we’re on the road (which is a lot) or we stop by a gas station during our lunch break, he always wants a Whatchamacallit.

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After spending who knows how much money on those candy bars this year, I figured I should try making them at home.

This is a good idea for a few reasons:

1. Homemade is always, always better.

2. We’ll be saving money.

3. Making homemade versions of candy bars is just fun.

4. Making your husband’s favorite candy bar at home is a good way to stay on his good side.

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Ever since I got this brown rice syrup to try from Tropical Traditions, I’ve been trying to think of what to make first.

Then my friend Chris posted about making these candy bars at home, and I knew they had to happen in our kitchen immediately.

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These aren’t exactly like the Whatchamacallits you’d get in line at 7-11, but they’re pretty darn close.

I’m not skilled (or patient) enough to do layers yet, so I mixed the caramel into the peanut butter mixture for the cereal centers.

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If you want to try making your own gooey caramel layer in between the cereal and chocolate, go for it!

But if not, you at least need to have it mixed in.

The dulce de leche in these makes them really taste like the real deal.

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Also – they’re even better the next day, after sitting in the fridge overnight.

And, they’re perfect right out of the fridge, especially on a warm late summer afternoon.

 

Homemade Whatchamacallits

Adapted from Mele Cotte’s recipe here

Makes: 8-12 bars

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups puffed rice cereal
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
  • 1/2 cup dulce de leche
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cups semi sweet chocolate

Directions:

  1. Melt the peanut butter, brown sugar, brown rice syrup, and dulce de leche in a sauce pan until everything is smooth and combined. Stir in salt.
  2. Pour peanut butter mixture over the puffed cereal and stir until the cereal is coated.
  3. Spread the cereal mixture into a buttered 8×8 dish and press down into an even layer.
  4. Refrigerate until set, 30 minutes at the minimum.
  5. Once the cereal mixture is set, remove from the fridge and cut into bar shapes.
  6. Melt the chocolate (either in a double boiler on the stovetop or in the microwave) until completely smooth.
  7. Taking one cereal bar at a time, dip into the melted chocolate and turn until all the sides are covered with chocolate.
  8. Remove bar with a fork, shaking off the excess chocolate, and place on parchment paper to set.

Tropical Traditions sent me the brown rice syrup to test out – my opinions are my own. And I love it!

40 comments

  1. OH EM GEE. these were by far my favorite candy bar when i was little!!

  2. How fun!! Im sure the man loved them

  3. This was definetly a favourite of mine growing up! My family used to call them sweet marie bars or something, except they had a lot more sugar and corn syrup hahah! I can’t wait to try these :)

  4. BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT! I always loved those candy bars :)

  5. They look and sound amazing!!!

  6. I actually don’t think I’ve ever had a watchamacallit! These look fantastic, though!!

  7. Nice work Brandi! I love Whatchamacallits! :D Great idea making them at home!

  8. I KNEW there was a reason I randomly bought brown rice syrup yesterday. [Oddly, I have everything but the dulce de leche in my pantry right now…]

  9. Wow. These bring back childhood memories of my mother’s Scotcharoos. They looked just like these and were such a treat.

  10. Next to the big peanut butter cups, these were my favorite, most coveted treasures in my Halloween candy bag!

  11. Oh boy do these look wonderful. Now you have me craving some, and it’s only 9AM!

  12. i don’t know if i’ve ever tried these bars, but with those ingredients, how can i NOT try your homemade version?!?!

  13. I love Whatchamacallit bars! Seriously, they are like everything I love piled into one ooey gooey bar! Thanks for sharing, Brandi! :-)

  14. Ok, would you believe that my husband and I were standing in line at the grocery store this weekend, when he pointed out a Watchamacallit and told me that they used to be one of his favorites and thought I should try to make a homemade version?! What a weird coincidence. I think I’ll have to try your recipe and see what he thinks!

  15. Yum! I think these look perfect!

  16. I’ve never even heard of a Whatchamacallit bar before, but they sound amazing! I love the idea of combining peanut butter and dulce de leche! That sounds so, so good! Your husband is very lucky :)

  17. I [shamefully] admit that I’ve never heard of these candy bars before?! But you sure do make them sound and look good!

  18. Wow…I haven’t heard of a Whatchamacallit in years!! :)

  19. Yum! I love homemade candy bars….it’s so much fun! Whatchamacallits are a favorite of mine too :)

  20. Oh my, I must have those! I bet they beat the pants off the original.

  21. I LOVED these as a kid!! Perfect!

  22. wow – those look amazing amazing amazing.

  23. YES, YES & YES!!!! very nice call on the homemade candy bars!

  24. Those look fantastic! I am so excited to try them! Great recipe!
    :)

  25. These look amazing! My daughter’s b-day party is coming up, so I’m going to put these on the list of goodies to make. Thank you!

    • Perfect! Let me know if you try them! We’ve got one left and I have a feeling we’ll be fighting over it tonight :)

  26. I love making treats with puffed rice cereal, these look awesome ;)

  27. so fun!! This is a great idea – I love homemade stuff like this :)

  28. Be still, my heart! I absolutely LOVE Whatchamacallits…and making them homemade is brilliant! I want.

  29. Okay, not really sure how I missed these. Thank you so much for trying them! I love changes. Sweet! Literally and figuratively! :)

  30. I LOOOOVVEE these candy bars! :) You have no idea how excited I am about this recipe, they look sooo good!

  31. Hi,

    I just made your recipe using the same puffed rice you used. After refrigerating, my puffed rice is soft, not crunchy. I tasted some of the puffed rice from the bag and they are not like Rice Krispies – is it supposed to be crisp? I made my own dulce de leche sauce and it does add great flavor to this recipe, but I’m bummed that the rice isn’t crisp. I made these for my husband and I don’t think he’ll eat them bcuz the rice is not crisp. I think refrigerating them made the rice soggy.

    • Hi Faith – thanks so much for the note! It definitely depends on the kind you get. One kind I’ve found in the past is just a bit crunchy, not soft, so those work great. Or you could always use crisp rice cereal instead, too. The first time I made them, I made them with a softer cereal, and my husband still devoured them!

      • I used the exact one you have pictured. My husband hasn’t tried them yet so I’m curious to see if he will like them. I think I will try them again with gluten free Rice Krispies next time. Thank you for responding. BTW, I saw you on Dr. Oz and you were great – loved your recipes.

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