*Promise, no spoilers here! Don't worry I am not talking about the show plot at all. Just some candy, inspired by the best show on TV right now, and one of my fave love-to-hate-him characters!..*

Slimy, sneaky, chaos ladder climber-y. These Littlefinger Candy Bars, brought to you by Game of Thrones character, Petyr Baelish, are the perfect treat when you are in a sinister sort of mood.

(Keep reading to see the GOT candy wrapper I made for these.)

Butterfinger-inspired, these sweet, slightly crunchy, peanut butter flavored and chocolate-coated bars are the perfect treat for any GOT fan.

You can even print out some silly wrappers like I did and serve these up at your next GOT-watching party - or just for yourself because you totally deserve these to get you through the long week wait for Sunday night.

These bars are healthier than the real thing, with a short ingredients list. Vegan and dairy-free bars. GOT and DIY candy fans, hope you can give these good-treats-gone-bad a try! Plus, I share why I am so into escapism like GOT lately...

Ok, so my favorite thing about food blogging is the fact that I get to randomly think of wacky ideas and then share them with you guys as I test them out...

Last night, watching the latest Game of Thrones episode, watching Littlefinger on the screen, I said, "Ooh, someone should make a Littlefinger candy bar! Haha. Ha. That's funny, right? ... No? Yes? .. I don't care, I'm doing it! .... Hm...." So into the kitchen I went. And onto the graphic design software I went as well ... because these candy bars really needed a wrapper to match the name.

Totally silly. Totally delicious. These bars are made using a sweet peanut butter base, mixed with some finely processed puffed rice cereal, and gently baked, for that classic Butterfinger crispiness. These bars are a bit more chewy than crispy, but they do have a light crunch from the rice that I love.

On a more serious note... In the past year or so I have really been finding myself craving escapism more and more. Escapism via TV, film, music, travel and even just in my own life. Re-discovering the simplest things that bring me joy and "shut out" the noise of this often times very crazy and chaotic (pun intended!) world we live in. Little things like blasting music and baking cookies. Having a lunch date with a friend and turning off my phone. Or like today, playing a GOT podcast while I edit candy photos - listening to people talk in depth about a world that doesn't even exist. Using my imagination to think of new recipes and blog post topics and ways to interact with my readers. From childhood, I have been a fan of make believe, fantasy and film, art, creative writing and using your imagination. But more and more, as I get older, and find that I have to consciously remind myself to use those parts of my brain, I find that "escapism" isn't always just for fun, it is a way to literally help yourself thrive.

Adults need make believe and dragons and fairy dust just as much (or more) as kids do.

With so many serious and often times downright depressing things in the world, and especially in the online space where I work and play every day, a person can seriously get emotionally fatigued. I think that is why I see more and more people taking "social media breaks" and literally deleting apps on their phones for a few weeks or turning off all notifications and more. So that is why I am truly committed to trying to bring positive and creative, yet still real and honest, content and stories here to my blog. Because so much fun and creativity can happen in your kitchen, if you have the right direction, motivation and inspiration.

So anyways, this is my little piece of candy escapism. And since I actually love the character of Littlefinger (he's a villain for sure.. but he's so good at it!!) I will say this.. Nobody better lay a finger on my Littlefinger. *face palm* *nerd emoji* *yes I said that*

Two Things! Now I will say two things: 1) These bars are REALLY tasty. I love the peanut flavor that mingles with a slight molasses flavor and the crispy rice crunch, all coated in velvet-y chocolate. But, 2) They do not tastes exactly like the original Butterfinger candy bars, which use corn syrup, dairy and other ingredients in the "classic candy" area. Look, I am not a purist with food. As long as it is vegan, I will eat it! So I actually wasn't trying to make these "healthy" candy bars, just more of a vegan candy bar. They are rich and sweet and really satisfy that yummy "Butterfinger" craving!

These are perfect for GOT season or the Halloween candy season, or any season really!

Golden Color: Using peanut butter and molasses will give you a golden brown color for the filling. If you want to go a step further, you can add a tiny pinch of turmeric for a slightly golden tone. I did this and couldn't taste the turmeric at all. A little goes a very long way.

The chocolate coating is very simple, just melted vegan chocolate chips and a tiny bit of optional coconut oil.

Baking the bars. You could probably just get away with freezing the bars, slicing, then coating in chocolate. But I wanted to make sure that my bars had a bit of crunch and lightness to them, so I baked the filling before slicing it into bar strips.

Littlefinger Bites. Using the raw filling mixture, you could even roll it into tiny balls, bake them (or not..), then dip them in chocolate and do "Littlefinger" Bites!

download my wrapper pdfs

Wrappers...

DIY Candy recipes are some of my favorites - check out my other recipes:

* Chocolate Turtles - caramel and pecans
* Almond Butter Cups - nut butter cups
* Rocky Road Bars - vegan marshmallow-y
* Vegan "Snickers" - peanuts and caramel and chocolate
* Joyful Coconut Chocolate Almond Bars - coconut almond bars

And shoutouts to my three fave Game Of Thrones podcasts:

- Bald Move
- A Cast of Kings
- Game of Owns

And if you are just a big GOT fan like me, check out my Northern Ireland Travel Post, as we visited Winterfell, the King's Road, Pike and more GOT spots! It was such a fun trip in such a beautiful part of the world.

The wall!!..

Vegan Butterfinger Candy Bars

By Kathy PatalskyPublished 08/14/2017
These peanut butter-y, crunchy and chocolate-covered bars are the perfect vegan DIY version of the classic!

Ingredients

Filling:

2 cups puffed rice (unsweetened whole puffed grain - 100% rice)*
⅓ cup + 2 tablespoon peanut butter, salted and creamy - softened
⅔ cup maple or agave syrup**
1 teaspoon molasses
⅛ teaspoon turmeric (optional for bolder orange color)
pinch - ⅛ teaspoon sea salt

Chocolate Topping:

1 cup vegan chocolate (chips, chunks or bars)
1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper - a rimmed sheet is a bit easier to work with.
Add the puffed rice to a blender. Process until it turns into a fine powder -- but do not over process, you want the rice powder to be crunchy and light.
Add in the peanut butter, sweetener, salt, optional turmeric and molasses. Process until smooth, but again, not over processing to lose the lightness from the rice.
You want your filling to load onto the baking sheet when t is about the consistency of a sturdy cookie dough, almost like a gingersnap or peanut butter cookie dough, only a bit denser.
If your mixture is already at that ideal consistency, you can pour it right into the baking sheet. Flatten by pressing out with another sheet of parchment paper. You want the thickness to be the same thickness that you want the filling of your bars to be. Mine were around ¾" thick. A thicker bar will take a bit monger to bake. --- If your mixture from the blender is on the softer side, transfer the filling to a small sauce pot and simmer on low for 3-4 minutes, constantly stirring so that you do not burn, but just firm up the filling a bit.

(Consistency from the blender will vary based on your peanut butter. If your peanut butter is on the oily side, it may produce a runnier filling.)
Once your filling is patted down in the baking dish, try and make it into a square shape for easiest slicing. The smoother you can get the top of the mixture, the better your bars will look once covered in chocolate.
Bake the flattened bar filling at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove bars from oven and place the pan directly in the freezer for fastest cooling. Chill for about 15 minutes, or until the bars are firm and cold to touch.
Using a double-broiler method, or the microwave, melt the chocolate and optional coconut oil. Set aside so that it cools a bit before dipping your chilled bars. About five minutes should do it.
Remove your chilled filling from the freezer. Confirm that it is firm and cold to touch. Slice off any curvy edges of the slab so that you have one uniform square or rectangle shape, with straight edges. Then slice into bars.
Dip the bars in the melted and slightly cooled chocolate. Place the bars on either a parchment paper-lines baking sheet, or a baking rack.
Once all your bars are dipped and placed on a parchment paper lined bakign sheet, place that sheet in the freezer. Chill 20 minutes (or longer) before serving. Store leftovers in a plastic baggy in the freezer.

Yield: 4-5 large barsPrep Time: 00 hrs. 20 mins. Cook time: 00 hrs. 30 mins. Total time: 50 mins. Tags: candy,butterfinger,vegan,diy,game of thrones,littlefinger,chocolate,dessert,gluten free,

Recipe notes:
* Filling Experimenting. I seen other recipe sites use corn flakes or other dry cereal. Apparently, real Butterfinger bars use corn flakes, just an FYI. But I was pretty happy with my rice-based version. Candy corn is also a very popular filling base. Or a combo of both! For crunch: anything puffed and airy should work well. You can browse the internet and find more than a few "butterfinger" recipes. Some healthy and some not so much. Candy corn versions: if you can find vegan candy corn, go for it! I am curious to try this option. I wonder what other vegan candy could work?

If you look at the actual "Butterfinger" recipe by Nestle, you will see that peanut butter and molasses are basics to achieving the classic flavor. Then lots of sweetness. Then adding crunch is pretty easy. I loved the rice puffs because they are super airy! And I always have them on hand anyways. If you just want to add body and not crunch, coconut flour might work too. I would also try cereal O's, processed granola or even graham crackers! So many options for adding crunch. Nuts or seeds might also work.
** I think agave syrup gives a cleaner flavor, but maple works too. For less sweetness, reduce sweetener to ½ cup and add in 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk

And if you just want to see the real Butterfinger bars made in the factory... Unwrapped TV has it on YouTube ..Peanuts, molasses, corn flakes and more....! The Butterfinger rep says, "As you can see, these cornflakes are much different than what you'd have for breakfast at home. We add these in and they are a lot lighter in texture."

....Thus why I thought rice puffs might be an even BETTER option than a cereal cornflake, which can be slightly heavy and hard in a crunchy way. Rice puffs process up very light and crunchy.