Vegan maple nut goodies
Just as unhealthy as all your cravings.
Ingredients
- 12 oz vegan chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup peanuts, roughly chopped
- 20 large Dandies vegan marshmallows
- 1 tbsp light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup vegan margarine
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup vegan "evaporated milk", such as Nestle Carnation Almond Cooking Milk
- 1 tsp maple extract
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
Directions
Begin at the beginning: grease a 9 x 9 pan (I used Pyrex). Grease liberally - with Pam or vegan spread. Place a piece of parchment with overhang to ease release.
Melt 4 or 5 ounces chocolate chips and 1/4 cup peanut butter. You can melt this with a double boiler or in short bursts in the microwave (30 seconds at most), stirring after each burst. Once the chocolate and peanut butter mixture is melted and combined, pour into your prepared 9 x 9 pan and place directly in freezer.
For the nougat layer, melt 1/2 cup vegan margarine on the stove in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and vegan evaporated milk. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved and the liquid comes to a boil. Continue to let the liquid cook for 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally.
While this stove top mixture boils, make marshmallow fluff out of dandies marshmallows. Place 16-20 large marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl with 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (or simple syrup). Microwave for 30 seconds, stir. If there are still lumps, microwave 30 more seconds and stir again until smooth (it took 60 seconds for me). This mixture will stiffen as it cools, so I would make this while the rest of the nougat is boiling for five minutes.
Once the stove top mixture has boiled for five minutes, remove from heat, add marshmallow fluff, 1/4 cup peanut butter and a teaspoon of maple extract. Stir until smooth (this can take a while if the homemade fluff has stiffened up). Remove 9x9 pan from freezer, add the nougat mixture and sprinkle roughly chopped peanuts on top, press in gently. Place back in freezer.
Make the chocolate topping by melting 7-8 ounces chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons coconut oil (double boiler or microwave method). Once this mixture is melted, remove pan from freezer and pour chocolate evenly over the top, covering the nougat layer. Place back in freezer for at least an hour.
Remove the candy from the pan by yanking out the parchment. Chop into even pieces with a sharp knife dipped in warm water (dry with towel before cutting). Store refrigerated for a couple weeks. This recipe also freezes reasonably well.
