Make Your Own Chocolate Kit Kat Candy With Just 2 Ingredients

Maybe you're watching a late-night movie and you're struck with a sudden sweet tooth. Or, maybe you're in line at the supermarket and find that your go-to impulse buy Kit Kat suddenly costs (gasps) $4 a bar. What's a forlorn foodie to do? Don't despair. You can recreate the classic chocolate-wrapped layered wafer cookie candy at home with just two ingredients: vanilla wafers and melting chocolate.

To be clear, we aren't talking about the popular, near-eponymous circular Nilla Wafer cookies made by Nabisco. We're talking about the layered, rectangular wafer strips you might spy on an afternoon tea table or in the pantry at your grandma's house. There are popular varieties by brands like Voortman, Loacker, and Bauducco, but Walmart even carries a generic Great Value brand of vanilla wafer cookies. The point is, this star ingredient is wicked affordable and just as easy to track down in your local grocery store.

You can melt regular baking chocolate with just a little water, or add a fat element like butter or coconut oil to your chocolate for smoother melting. Just steer clear of chocolate chips, which contain stabilizers and don't melt as uniformly. We're looking for a silky drape for our vanilla wafers, here. To melt your chocolate without burning or scalding it, you can use a fondue pot, or a regular saucepan will also get the job done (check out this article for more tips on melting chocolate). You could also make this treat vegan by using vegan vanilla wafer cookies and dairy-free chocolate.

To replicate those beloved Kit Kats at home, simply melt some chocolate and dunk the vanilla wafers in it, gently turning them to apply an even coat. For this step, you can pinch the wafer cookie between two fingers, or enlist the help of chopsticks, a fork, or some small tongs for mess-free dipping. Then, transfer that melty, chocolate-coated vanilla wafer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, load your lined sheet with as many coated wafers as you want, and pop that tray in the fridge, uncovered, to chill until the candy has hardened. Be sure to allow these guys to cool completely before digging in, or they'll melt apart in your hand. Around 30 minutes in the fridge should do the trick, but if you're in a hurry, slam 'em in the freezer.

Kit Kats come in a kaleidoscope of different flavors, and replicating them can be as simple as melting different flavors of chocolate. Use semisweet chocolate for the classic original Kit Kat. Or, you could melt white chocolate, dark chocolate, or add strawberry, matcha, birthday cake, or pumpkin spice baking extracts to melted white chocolate to recreate your favorite Kit Kat varieties at home. For a totally luxurious bite, you could stir a little peanut butter or hazelnut-chocolate spread like Nutella into your melted chocolate, wrapping your wafers in a rich, luscious coating. Enjoy these bad boys as-is for a delish DIY candy dupe, or use them as a crunchy topping over vanilla ice cream.