salted peanut caramel slice

salted peanut caramel slice

• 23 Jul 2018

I saw a recipe for some peanut and miso shortbread bars in last months Gourmet Traveller which piqued my interest. I didn't have any miso in the house so I hunted down a version that didn't require a visit to my local Asian grocery store.



I used the base from the Gourmet Traveller recipe but skipped the miso and found a similar recipe for the peanut topping online.



It's a very simple slice to put together and before long it was cooling on the rack.



Once I cut the slice into pieces I decided to drizzle half the slice with dark chocolate topped with a sprinkle of sea salt. In the end I'm not sure the peanut slice needed any embellishment because it tasted pretty fine just the way it was.



Here's the recipe for you which makes 12 bars. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Salted Caramel Peanut Slice – topping adapted from Viva and the base from  Peanut and miso shortbread bars from Gourmet Traveller.

Base

1 cup (300g) plain flour

20g corn flour

⅛ tsp baking powder

pinch salt

125g butter at room temperature

¼ cup caster sugar

1 egg yolk

½ tsp vanilla extract

Topping

½ cup (90g) brown sugar

2 tbs golden syrup

90g butter

200g salted roasted peanuts

½ tsp vanilla extract

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm square tin with baking paper.

To make the base, combine the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and whiz for a few seconds. Add the butter and whiz until incorporated then add in the egg yolk and vanilla until a dough forms around the blade. Scrape the dough into a lined tin, pat out evenly with your hands and then roll a small glass over to compress the base. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

While the base is baking, put the brown sugar, golden syrup and butter into a heavy based saucepan over a low heat stirring until the sugar has dissolved and the butter melted. Add the peanuts and the vanilla and mix well.

When the base is ready remove from the oven and let the base cool slightly. Pour the warm topping onto the base and working quickly, spread the mix to completely cover the base. Return to the oven for about another 15-20 minutes or until the topping is golden and bubbling. Leave to cool until barely warm then cut into slices. 

If you like, you can drizzle the bars with 50-75g melted dark chocolate, sprinkle over a few salt flakes then stand back and watch them disappear.

See you all again next week with some baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

jillian