This homemade nougat recipe is so easy to make with less than 1g of carbs in each piece! Present this homemade nougat as a heartfelt gift during the holiday season, embodying the warmth and care you put into creating a delicious and thoughtful treat for your friends and family.
Table of Contents
Nougat is a classic sweet treat that can be flavored with nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, or whatever tasty ingredients you have in the pantry. We’ve revived this classic candy and have created a homemade nougat recipe that’s packed full of texture and flavor but without the large amount of sugar nougat recipes typically contain. Delicately adorned with walnuts, ground vanilla bean, and sugar-free maple syrup, the nougat remains as tasty and sweet as ever.
Egg whites help achieve the chewy, marshmallow-nougat texture candy lovers recognize and adore, while a dash of lemon juice helps stabilize and bring structure to the dessert. Our keto nougat is the perfect treat to make over the festive season as it keeps well, looks incredible, and is a creative gift to show friends and family how much you care.
Making nougat requires a bit more effort than following a simple cake recipe, but it’s worth every minute! A mixer or food processor will help things run a lot smoother when the time comes to beat the egg whites. Even with a few steps involved, the preparation time for the nougat is still only around 20 minutes. Since the cooking time is 2 hours, there’s a perfect window of time to clean the kitchen before delving into a dreamy slice of keto nougat.
Homemade Nougat Ingredients
- Egg Whites: Egg white is a key ingredient in nougat, creating an aerated texture that, when baked, becomes slightly crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Egg whites help keep the texture light and fluffy and provide most, if not all, of the structure of the nougat. Although our recipe only calls for the use of egg whites, don’t throw away the yolks! They can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days and used in other recipes rather than be wasted and thrown away.
- Granulated Erythritol: Granulated Erythritol has the appearance and texture of sugar but contains no carbs or calories, making it an ideal ingredient for sweetening the nougat. Without using a keto sweetener, it would be nearly impossible to make nougat, and granulated Erythritol is a great choice as it acts very similar to sugar once heated and has a natural sweet taste.
- Keto Maple Syrup Or Liquid Erythritol: Making syrup is one of the first steps of our nougat recipe, using either keto maple syrup or liquid Erythritol as the base. Both ingredients work as well as each other, only differing slightly in flavor, with keto maple syrup having a slight caramel tang that works wonders with the toasted walnuts and vanilla.
- Walnuts: Balanced flavor is essential in dishes, but it’s also important to consider texture and appearance, especially when baking goodies for loved ones this holiday season. Toasted walnuts are the perfect addition to the nougat, creating pops of sandy brown and crunch with every bite.
- Vanilla Bean: Ground vanilla bean echoes the sweetness of the Erythritol and keto maple syrup, balancing the overall sweetness of the nougat and bringing speckled black flecks bursting with floral vanilla notes. Vanilla bean generally has a bolder vanilla flavor than extract, but if you don’t have any fresh vanilla bean to hand, a drop of extract will still bring vanilla flavor, but in a subtler form.
- Sea Salt: Adding a good amount of salt to sweet creations helps balance and enhance flavors, bringing a delightful contrast to sweet ingredients. A sprinkling of sea salt in the nougat is a welcome contrast to the abundance of sweet ingredients, creating a sweet and salty overall flavor to make taste buds sing.
- Lemon Juice: Only a tablespoon of lemon juice is needed to bring a light, zesty tang to the nougat and offset the overall sweetness. Lemon juice in large amounts can be bitter and overpowering, but using a small amount instead brings a subtle lightness to the nougat and cuts through the richness within the chewy confection.
How To Make Easy Keto Nougat
The process of making nougat is a simple one, but there are a few vital steps to follow to create a soft, billowy, final nougat texture. A food processor or mixer is the best way to aerate the nougat mixture, ensuring it has plenty of marshmallowy lightness before getting baked in the oven. With only 0.8g of net carbohydrates per serving, our keto nougat is the perfect recipe for those living a keto lifestyle or friends and family interested in trying some keto dishes!
Step one: Mix together the Erythritol, keto maple syrup, vanilla, and salt in a medium-sized saucepan until all the ingredients are combined well. Place the saucepan on medium-high heat and cook without stirring for roughly 3 minutes, until golden and bubbly or until a candy thermometer inserted into the mixture reaches 220ºF (104ºC).
Step two: Pour the egg whites into a large bowl, add lemon juice, and beat the mixture on medium speed with a mixer or processor until stiff peaks form.
Step three: Once the peaks are formed, increase the mixer speed to very high and gradually add the hot syrup, in a stream, into the egg whites. Continue beating the mixture until it becomes thick and glossy, which will take 8-10 minutes.
Step four: Fold in the toasted walnuts and preheat the oven to 140ºF (60ºC). Line a baking sheet with baking paper and pour the mixture onto the tray. Allow the nougat mixture to dry in the preheated oven at 140ºF (60ºC) for 2 hours.
Step five: Once baked, use a wet knife and cut the nougat into 24 pieces, allowing it to cool before serving.
Tips And Variations
Chocolate-Coated Keto Nougat: Nothing quite hits the spot like high-quality, keto-friendly dark chocolate, and it’s a fantastic way to go one step further with any nougat recipe. Once the nougat has completed its time in the oven and has cooled completely, melt some keto chocolate and coat each piece of nougat until they are fully encased in a dreamy chocolate shell. Place the coated nougat in the fridge until the chocolate has set, and enjoy!
Keto Pistachio And Honey Nougat: Traditional flavors can be hard to beat, with pistachio and honey nougat being a favorite combination for many. In our nougat recipe, replace the toasted walnuts with pistachio and add a few squeezes of keto honey instead of vanilla.
Festive Spiced Keto Nougat: Nothing encapsulates the festive season like warm spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, and all of them can be used to transform our nougat recipe into a festive holiday season treat. Adding the ground spices to the egg whites before beating them means the spices are incorporated into the nougat mixture evenly, so each mouthful is fragrant and flavorful.
Nougat Storage Tip: Once cooked and cooled, the individual pieces of nougat may try to stick to one another, which can be a nightmare when attempting to serve the dessert! To avoid this, either space out the slices of nougat well or wrap each piece with a little parchment paper.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Is My Nougat Not Setting?
The cooking and beating time when making nougat has to be near exact to create the desired texture that will harden in the oven and even more as the nougat cools. A nougat that’s not setting may be caused by underheating, underbeating, adding too much liquid, or using too much sugar.
How Do I Make My Nougat Firmer?
If you find that the nougat mixture isn’t very firm at the egg white whipping stage, you may need to increase the temperature while the eggs are being whipped. This can be done easily by directing a hair dryer around the bowl and gently heating up the sides so the egg whites become firmer, creating a texture that resembles a nougat mixture consistency.
How Long Does Keto Nougat Keep For?
Keto nougat can be stored in a cool, dry place for a couple of weeks or in the refrigerator for upwards of a month, though it likely will be eaten within days of being made! Keeping the nougat cool and airtight helps it last for a substantial time, so it’s wise to store it in a sealed container or similar.
📖 Recipe
Homemade Nougat Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large Egg Whites
- 1 cup Low Carb Sugar Substitute (Granulated)
- ¾ cup Low Carb Sugar Substitute (Liquid) or keto maple syrup
- 1 cup Walnuts toasted
- 1 teaspoon Ground Vanilla Beans
- ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
Instructions
- In a medium-sized saucepan, stir together the granulated Erythritol with the liquid Erythritol, vanilla, and salt until evenly mixed. Place over medium-high heat and cook without stirring for about 3 minutes, until golden and bubbly or until a candy thermometer inserted into the mixture reaches 104ºC/220ºF.
- In the meantime, pour the egg whites in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and beat the egg whites on medium speed until stiff peaks form.
- Increase the mixer speed to very high. Gradually add the hot syrup, in a stream, into the egg whites. Beat until the mixture gets very thick and glossy for about 8-10 minutes. Fold in the toasted walnuts.
- Preheat the oven to 140ºF.
- Line a baking sheet with baking paper and pour in the mixture.
- Allow to dry in the preheated oven at 140ºF for 2 hours.
- Using a wet knife, cut it into 24 pieces and allow it to cool before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information for the recipe is calculated based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe we provide. Erythritol and other sugar-free sweetener carbs are not included in the carb counts. Net carbohydrates are the total carbohydrates minus dietary fiber.
Copyright
© KetoDietYum.com – Unauthorized use of this material without written permission is strictly prohibited unless for personal offline purposes. Single images may be used when full credit and a link back to the original content on KetoDietYum.com is provided.
