A SOMEWHAT Successful Attempt at a Homemade Salted Nut Roll Bar

I love salted nut rolls.  I could eat them by the bucket full.  Probably wouldn't be good for my waistline or my budget to be eating them all day long.  This afternoon, I thought I'd try to make my own salted nut rolls.  Here is my SOMEWHAT successful first try at my favorite treat.

I started with the nougat.  I found a recipe online for one with almonds.  I tweaked it a little and added peanuts instead of almonds.  I started with one egg white.

I whipped the egg white into stiff peaks.

Next, in a small saucepan, I mixed together 2 cups of powdered sugar,

1 teaspoon of light corn syrup,

2 Tablespoons water,

and 2 Tablespoons honey.

I stirred this mixture periodically until it became smooth.

Then, using a candy thermometer I brought this mixture up to 275 degrees.  I kept stirring it to keep it from burning.

Once it reached the correct temperature, I drizzled it to the whipped egg white, continuing to whip the egg white.

Next, I took dry roasted peanuts

and chopped them into little pieces.

I added these little peanut pieces to the egg white mixture.

I put parchment paper in a small 9" x 9" pan and I pressed the nougat into the pan.  This is where I made my first mistake.  If you try this recipe, make sure you grease the parchment paper!!!!!!

The preparation of the caramel topping was the easiest part of the recipe.  I used one bag of caramels.

I removed the paper and put the caramels in a double boiler to melt them.

Now the next step is where I may have made my second mistake.  I added 1/2 cup of evaporated milk to the melted caramels.  I think when I do this again, I'll skip the evaporated milk.  I made the caramel really runny.

Once the evaporated milk was fully incorporated into the melted caramels, I poured it over the nougat.

The last step was to add more peanuts.  This time, I left the peanuts whole and sprinkled them over the top.

To get my bars to set quickly, I put them in the refrigerator.

It took the bars about an hour to set.  Had I greased the parchment paper, cutting them and getting them off of the paper would have been much easier!

Even though it may not look like cookbook quality, it sure tasted fantastic!!!!!!

I will definitely be trying this recipe again!

"Sometimes I think that the one thing I love the most about being an adult is the right to buy candy whenever and wherever I want."  -Ryan Gosling