Chocolate Nougat Bars
Chocolate Nougat Bars are a gluten-free, delicious blend of ground nuts, made into a semi-soft crust, and chocolate. They're lovely for all occasions -- especially holiday parties and cookie exchanges.
Servings: 20
Calories: 294kcal
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt, divided
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- 1½ cups almond meal
- 1½ cups toasted sliced almonds, divided
- 12 ounces (about 2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F, and line a square (8 X 8-inch) baking pan with parchment paper. (Use a large piece that will cover the sides and cut slits in each corner so that it will lay flat.)
- Melt the butter over low-medium heat in a medium-sized saucepan.
- Remove it from the heat and stir in the vanilla, ½ teaspoon of the salt, sugar, honey, almond meal, and 1¼ cup of the almonds. Once it's a smooth mixture, pour it evenly into the parchment-lined baking pan.
- Place it in the preheated 375°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes. It should look a bit golden along the edges and it will be bubbling. After you remove it from the oven, this bubbling will begin to dissipate. Do not turn off the oven. Let the nougat cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes.
- Once it's room temperature, evenly distribute the chocolate chips over the top and return it to the oven for about 4 minutes -- just long enough to melt the chocolate. The chocolate chips will look very wet when they're melted and ready to spread. Evenly spread the melting chocolate chips to create a smooth surface.
- Sprinkle with the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, and the remaining ¼ cup of the toasted sliced almonds.
- Let this set at room temperature for at least 5 hours and ideally overnight. (You could speed this step up by placing it in the refrigerator, but the chocolate may discolor a bit.)
- Carefully lift the dessert out of the pan with the parchment paper. Set this on a cutting board, and evenly cut it into 21 slices, about 2½ to 3-inches each -- or in whatever sizes you'd like.
Nutrition
Calories: 294kcal