Regular readers will remember when I made sugar free Salted Nut Rolls - what a huge hit those were around our house! The ability to eat a 'candy bar' but it wasn't bad for you. At the time of that post (here) I mentioned how important the brand name of the exact products was to the outcome of the recipe.
I had to resort to using a Smucker's Caramel sauce because no matter what I did, I could not get my homemade sugar free caramel to work. I suspected at the time it was because I was using Xylitol, and even though 'supposedly' it could get to amber caramel stage, I will tell you this is not so. Not with the brand I had anyway. It was so hot it was almost smoking and nothing, I mean, nothing was going to make it turn amber. I tried that twice. I also tried with Erythritol. No dice.
The problem of the day? My nougat layer wouldn't set up! It was a high humidity day, which probably affected it, but I also used different version and/or brands than I used the last time on my Salted Nut Rolls and boy, was there a difference. So... my Salted Nut Roll turned into "Salted Nut Candy Bars" and I'm keeping them in the refrigerator and/or freezer since the nougat was so persnickety this time.
Nougat
1/4 - 1/3 c butter (a little more than 1/4 but less than 1/3, LOL)
1/2 c xylitol
1/4 c erythritol
1/2 c vanilla whey powder (I use Nature's Best Isopure Zero Carb Creamy Vanilla
1 c cream cheese
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t almond extract
10-20 drops liquid sweetener
In a saucepan melt the butter and add the xylitol, stir until disolved and clear. Add the erythritol, stir until dissolved then add whey protein. Cook for about 2 minutes, remove from heat and beat in cream cheese and flavorings. Let cool. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled. It should be like playdoh - so you can work it into a shape with your hands.
In order to make the candy bars;
Salted Nut Candy Bars
1 pkg. sugar free chocolate chips
1 recipe sugar free nougat
1 recipe sugar free caramel (or store purchased)
1 1/2 cups salted peanuts or salted, roasted almonds - chopped briefly in a processor
In a 9 or 10" square pan, place a layer of aluminum foil. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave and pour onto the aluminum foil and spread with a rubber spatula. Place this into the refrigerator while you get the other items ready or just chill until it's set a bit - it doesn't have to be rock hard, just not completely melted. Add your layer of nougat and spread or press over the chocolate. Now pour your caramel layer over the nougat and after a brief few minutes in the freezer or refrigerator to let the caramel just set up a tad, sprinkle nuts over the top of all.
Chill until set and cut. You can make this more of a 'candy bar' by melting another package of chocolate chips and dipping each sliced bar into the chocolate and let stand on parchment or foil until hard. I don't personally like chocolate very much so I didn't dip ours.
