On one hand, my cousin and her husband said this dish was amazing and swore they could eat the whole bowl. On the other hand, Annalyn informed me (quietly, as if only loud criticism would hurt my feelings) that she didn’t like it that much because it wasn’t “a real salad.”

Poor kiddo. She approached a creamy spoonful of fruit fluff her mom has called a “salad” all week expecting it to turn into a bowl of veggies, ranch dressing and croutons?!? Crazy girl.

Just to be clear, though: This dish is NOT a vegetable salad. Or a salad of any sort. Despite the apples that play a prominent role here, it can’t even be considered a fruit salad. Not really. What it can be considered, though, is delicious – so read on.

I can’t remember where I first saw a recipe for a Snickers and apple salad, but it was probably on Pinterest. (I say, as if I find new recipes anywhere else these days…) Easter lunch with my family seemed like the perfect occasion to try it out.

After doing a little search, I found a few different versions – but none answered my burning question, “Can I make this the night before?”

See, I just wasn’t sure if that would work. I know that a lot of dishes taste better when they’ve had time in the fridge, smushing all the flavors together. (Yep. Smushing. Don’t feel bad if you don’t know that technical term. Maybe someday when you’re a real fancy chef like me.) But, despite the smushing factor, I was afraid the apples would turn brown overnight. Or would they? Do whipped cream-covered apples turn brown? I DON’T KNOW.

I’m sorry to tell you I don’t have an answer for you. You know why? Because the apples were covered in whipped cream! So how was I supposed to know if they had turned brown? I couldn’t. So there was just no need to worry.

That’s not to say the fixing it the night before business went perfectly. I made the salad the night before, refrigerated it and then put it in the same box holding my piping hot Crockpot for the 40-minute drive to my cousin’s house. I’m not sure which part of that situation made the ingredients separate a bit by the time we ate lunch, but SOMETHING did.

Sure. It was probably the Crockpot commute that caused the problem, but I’m still not sold on the advance mixing. Next time, I’ll probably make it a few hours in advance, giving it time to be chilled but not enough time to separate.

No more ado. It’s recipe time!

Snickers & Apple “Salad”

4 large green apples
12-16 fun size Snickers bars
8 oz. Cool Whip
1 box vanilla pudding
1 cup milk

Mix together milk and pudding, then let it set up while you work on the other ingredients. Chop the apples and Snickers bars into small pieces. Mix together the Cool Whip and pudding, then fold in the apples and candy. Refrigerate for some time (I mean, you can do overnight, but I can give you no guarantees.*). Drizzle with caramel sauce before serving.

* I’m kidding, you guys. Refrigerating overnight is a great idea. Setting the salad next to a super hot Crockpot is a terrible idea.

Did you fix anything new and/or tasty for an Easter dinner over the weekend?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, 33 Shades of Green and Works for Me Wednesday.