Vegan Sweet Potato Caramel Nougat
Serves: 2 nougat logs
 
Ingredients
for the cookie crumble
  • 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds
  • 2-4 tablespoons ice cold water - divided
  • ½ cup (70 g) oat flour
  • ½ cup (50 g) almond flour
  • ¼ cup (30 g) tapioca flour/arrowroot powder
  • 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
  • pinch sea salt
  • ½ cup (125 ml) neutral coconut oil - cold and solid, plus more for oiling the pan - soft
for the sweet potato caramel
  • 1 cup soft Medjool dates - pitted
  • 1 medium sweet potato - baked and cubed
  • ½ cup sesame tahini
  • ⅓ cup almond butter
  • 4 tablespoons neutral coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
  • 5-7 cardamom pods - green shells removed, toasted and ground (optional)
  • pinch sea salt
  • 3 tablespoons raw cacao powder
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
for the nougat
  • 1 cup hazelnuts - toasted
  • 1 cup pecans - toasted
Instructions
to make the cookie crumble
  1. Combine ground chia and 1 tablespoon cold water into a paste in a small bowl, keep refrigerated.
  2. Combine oat, almond and tapioca flours, along with coconut sugar and salt in a food processor, pulse to mix. Add in refrigerated chia paste and pulse to incorporate. Cut cold coconut oil into cubes, add to the food processor and keep pulsing until the mixture resembles sand.
  3. Add 2 tablespoons cold water and pulse. Test the mixture by pressing it between your fingers, it should stick together. If not, add more water, 1 more tablespoon until dough sticks together between your fingers.
  4. Form an about 2-inch thick rope with the dough, wrap in bee's wrap/plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  5. Preheat oven to 350° F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, slice into slightly less than ⅜-inch thick rounds and place them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flip and bake for another 15 minutes, until golden. Crumble up the cookies before mixing them into the caramel.
to make the caramel and nougat
  1. Cover dates with boiling water and let soften for 10 minutes. Drain and place into the bowl of your food processor.
  2. Add sweet potato, tahini, almond butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract (if using), cardamom (if using), and salt. Blend until smooth. Scoop out ½ of the mixture into a bowl, add ½ nuts of the toasted nuts and ½ of the crumbled cookie dough and stir to incorporate. Transfer the mixture onto a sheet of bee's wrap/plastic wrap. Wrap it around to enclose the nougat mixture and shape into a thick (2-2½-inch) rope. Place into the freezer until firm.
  3. Add cacao powder and maple syrup into the remaining caramel mixture and process until well-combined. Transfer the chocolate mixture into the same bowl and add in the rest of the nuts and crumbled cookie dough. Proceed to shape as with caramel nougat. Place into a freezer until firm.
  4. Store nougat in the freezer. Remove from the freezer right before eating. Slice and enjoy immediately.
Recipe by Golubka Kitchen at https://golubkakitchen.com/vegan-sweet-potato-caramel-nougat-and-the-mighty-fix/