Caramel and Nougat Candy Bars

I used to like Snickers candy bars.  ...or, at least, I thought I did.

I like the concept.  The execution tends to be disappointing, though.  Cheap, shelf stable ingredients and stale nuts don't make a great candy bar.  When I came upon the Snickers makeover on chow.com while searching for nut butter nougat recipes, I was intrigued.

One of our twins has a peanut allergy, so I don't keep any peanut butter in the house.  I decided to use almond butter instead.  I doubled the recipe for their nougat and added a bit more salt.  I also used a different recipe for the caramel.  I love maple and figured it would go well with the almond.  I didn't want really crunchy nuts to detract from the chewy nougat, so I used sliced almonds instead of chopped.  I used a combination of dark and milk chocolate to coat them, so it wouldn't be too overly sweet.

Here's what you need for these bars.  I'll separate the ingredients in the next steps.

20-24 ounces chocolate*
2 egg whites
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 C sugar
1 C corn syrup
1 C smooth almond butter
1/2 C cream
1/2 C salted butter**
1 C maple syrup
1 1/2 C sliced almonds

stand mixer with a balloon whisk
parchment paper
9x11 pan
cooking spray
decent instant read digital thermometer
sharp knife
metal bowl
pot that the metal bowl fits over
larger bowl with ice water
flexible scraper



*I used 11.5 ounces each of milk and dark.  I know couverture chocolate would be much better for coating, but I didn't have any.  If you temper properly, decent quality chocolate chips work just fine.  Do NOT use those "chocolate flavored candy coating" abomination chips they sell at the store.  They're made of hydrogenated oil and dead baby seals.

**I never keep unsalted butter around.  It tends to pick up off flavors, and it's not as good on toast.  If you want to use unsalted butter for this, add a bit more salt to the caramel.

Oh, and by the way... sometimes you feel like a pig.  Sometimes you don't.

Step 1 Make the Nougat

2 egg whites
1 t salt
1 1/2 C granulated sugar
1 C corn syrup
1/2 C water
1 C smooth almond butter

Line your pan with parchment and spray it with the cooking spray.

Separate the eggs and save the egg yolks for something like lemon curd.  Lemon curd is awesome.  Place the egg whites in the mixer bowl and add the salt, but don't beat them yet.

Heat the corn syrup, sugar, and water in a pot.  When they start to boil, cover the pot and boil for a few minutes.  This will wash down the sugar crystals that might accumulate on the sides of the pot.  There's no need to mess with a pastry brush.

Remove the lid and cook the sugar mixture without stirring until the instant read digital thermometer reads 270 degrees F.  Turn the mixer on high and beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Don't over beat them or you'll have to throw them away.  I know other instructions say beat until stiff peaks... but you really don't need to.  The sugar should now be around 275 degrees... if it's not, it's okay.  pour it anyway.

Turn the mixer down to low, but keep it running and pour the hot syrup down the side of the bowl.  After all the syrup is added and mixed, turn the mixer up to a higher speed.  Some of the syrup might've stiffened and gotten lumpy.  The bowl should be pretty hot and steamy now; just keep mixing and it should all come together into a fluffy, gooey mass.

The instructions on chow.com said to carefully fold in the nut butter.  Meh.  I dumped it in and turned on the mixer again.  It worked fine for me.  Spread the nougat into the pan.  Mine was cooling fast and I had to butter my hands in order to finish spreading it properly.  I got butter on my phone just so I could take that picture.

Comments

[BzeanBea]

I love the idea of maple syrup as the sugar component but its near impossible to find where I am. I'm guessing regular old white sugar would be fine but would the same 1 C be the amount? Thoughts? Thanks for a great instructable!

[Gr3at_Whit3_North_Guy]

When you are making the nougat do you need to include almond butter or is there a substitute for it

[supersoftdrink]

You can use peanut butter, cashew butter, or whatever nut butter you prefer. We just don't keep peanuts or peanut butter in the house because one of our girls has a peanut allergy. If you want your candy bars to taste like Snickers, use peanuts in the caramel and peanut butter in the nougat (and milk chocolate coating instead of dark).

[Cinder Dragon]

My chocolate didn't temper :( but the bars r still good :3

[supersoftdrink]

Chocolate can be a pain. Have you considered Alton Brown's lazy method? Basically he melts the chocolate at such a low temperature that it keeps the temper it had when it was sold; he chops it and puts it in a bowl over a heating pad on low (which is tucked inside a larger bowl). He stirs and keeps checking the temperature, getting it all to 90 degrees F and making sure it doesn't get above 93 or 94 degrees F. It might take longer to melt it that slowly, but it's a lot less fussy than using a bowl over simmering water and bringing the chocolate to different temperatures.

Out of curiosity, is your thermometer digital instant read or another kind? You really want a fast, accurate thermometer for candy stuff.

[Cinder Dragon]

It's glass, I know an instant read one would be good, but I really don't do stuff with chocolate that much....
So the glass works well for what I'm doing for now

[ChrysN]

Looks yummy! You make a good point Snickers has some of my favorite things in a chocolate bar but they end up being rather disappointing when you buy one. Thanks for posting this.

I'm intrigued as to what your next chocolate bar instructable will be.

[supersoftdrink]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bacon-Maple-Candy-Bars/ I didn't want to tell people what it was until I finished it. :)

[angelabchua]

These look fantastic! And seems pretty simple to make. Thanks!

[Carleyy]

WOW these look delicious!!!