Christmas season has officially hit! Without the heavy coats, mugs of hot chocolate or the snow and fairy light dusted branches that I’ve been swiping past, here in Auckland it’s more muggy spring rain and barbecues. Pine needles are lining the footpath outside (thanks to the Christmas trees being sold by my brothers) and the Christmas mince tarts are rolling out the door – buckets of brandy and spice laden fruit spiked with dark chocolate, and tray after tray of buttery sweet pastry. Topped with a star and a light shower of icing sugar, they’re pretty festive – I’ll be hard pressed not to eat one a day until the 25th. Do let me know if you’re in New Zealand (Auckland in particular) and you’d like to order a dozen or two.
So if last week’s post was the anti-dote to all the sweet baking I’ve been doing, this post is one of those sweets. This week I’ve worked with Vitamix to create this Salted Peanut Caramel Slice. It’s the perfect recipe for any Christmas party, potluck, morning tea get-together, or simply to indulge in with coffee – it’s a hit in any situation, and I haven’t found someone that doesn’t like it. It starts with a slightly salty, buttery miso shortbread base, topped with a rich dark-roasted peanut caramel – like a regular caramel sauce but with the addition of homemade peanut butter and chopped peanuts stirred through for crunch. Normally when I make caramel slice I go for the classic condensed milk based caramel, but I think this is my new favourite – much less risk of sickly sweetness, and a bolder caramel flavour, matched with the slightly savoury peanut butter. It’s finished off with a layer of dark chocolate and a hint of sea salt. It’s addictive, sweet, sticky, salty, nutty and rich – everything I want in a slice!
The Vitamix Ascent with the new Blending Cups and Bowls makes this slice even easier: simply use the pulse function to blitz together the shortbread ingredients in the jug, and then use the new Blending Cup to make a quick, homemade dark roasted peanut butter for the caramel. I haven’t stopped using the Cups and Bowls with my Ascent since I received them – it means you can blend smaller quantities of ingredients that wouldn’t work so well in the full size container (like this small batch peanut butter, salad dressing, chopped nuts and individual smoothies) AND means less dishes. The Vitamix Ascent is my go-to blender and I use it almost daily – it blends the thickest acai bowls and icy sorbet, makes super smooth almond butter, you can make soup from scratch (it even heats it up!) and it comes in handy for the big batches of hummus I make regularly. Christmas present anyone?
This post was created in collaboration with Vitamix, and I received the high-performance blender as a gift. As always, all opinions expressed are my own, including my appreciation of this versatile blender! Thank you so much for supporting the companies that support this blog.
Baker’s Notes:
- The homemade small batch peanut butter works extremely well in the Vitamix Blending Cup. It means you know exactly what is in it and can roast your own peanuts – it tastes better than any store-bought nut butter I’ve tried. If you MUST, you can use a dark roasted store-bought peanut butter, but make sure it is a smooth nut butter that is just peanuts (± a little bit of oil and salt). If you use a peanut butter with lots of extra fats, additives and sugar it will affect your end result.
- Make sure the base and caramel are cool and set before you add the next layer on top. Pro tip if you are short on time – place the tin in the freezer. The base will chill super fast, and the caramel will set within an hour or two.
- Keep the slice in an airtight container in the fridge and bring out just before serving. If kept at room temperature, the caramel layer gets too soft. It’ll last at least a week.
- 1 cup plain flour
- ¼ cup caster sugar
- 113 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
- 1 tablespoon white miso (you can leave it out if you don’t have it, but add 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt)
- 200 g blanched peanuts (shelled and unsalted, raw)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon runny honey or maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons canola or other neutral oil (or peanut oil)
- 200 g caster sugar
- 120 ml water (1/2 cup)
- 80 ml cream (1/3 cup)
- 100 g unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into cubes
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 150 g good quality dark chocolate broken into pieces or roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil (like canola, rice bran or grapeseed)
- Sea salt flakes to top
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Grease and line a 20cm square baking tin. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
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Place all shortbread ingredients in the Vitamix jug and pulse 5-10 times on high speed until it forms large crumbs that start to clump together.
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Tip out into the prepared tin and press firmly and evenly with your fingers into the tin.
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Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Leave to cool completely, or pop in the fridge or freezer if you are in a rush.
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Roast the raw, shelled peanuts in a baking dish for approximately 10 minutes or until golden – check these regularly and move around in the tin so they roast evenly. Leave until just warm (not hot).
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In the Vitamix Blending Cup, combine 150g of the roasted peanuts, the sea salt, honey and the neutral oil. Blend until a thick peanut butter forms – you may have to give the cup a shake halfway through. Tip into a bowl and set aside.
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Place the remaining 50g of peanuts into the Vitamix Blending Bowl and pulse until roughly chopped. Set aside.
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In a medium pot over a high heat, combine the caster sugar and water. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, and then leave to boil until it turns a golden caramel colour – about 10 minutes. When the edges start to caramelize, swirl the pot occasionally so it browns evenly.
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Remove from the heat and carefully add the butter and cream, and whisk until fully combined -the caramel may bubble up as you do this. Add the vanilla paste and peanut butter you made earlier and whisk until fully combined. Add the chopped peanuts and stir to combine.
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Tip this caramel onto the cooled shortbread base.
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Refrigerate until the caramel is set – minimum 4 hours. If you are in a hurry, it will set in an hour in the freezer!
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In a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt the chocolate. Stir in the oil until fully combined. Tip the melted chocolate over the set caramel and spread into an even layer. Tap the tin on the counter top to smooth out the chocolate.
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Place in the fridge again until set (approx. an hour).
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Use a warm, very sharp knife (run the knife under warm water then dry it) to cut the peanut slice into squares. Top with a sprinkle of sea salt.
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Keep in the fridge in an airtight container – the caramel softens when left out.
I’ve been eyeing that Vitamix model for the longest time! The attachments sound amazing. I have the more traditional classic 5200. Either way, I love the sound of these!! The layers are gorgeous and sound so delicious.
I love it so much! The attachments are super handy for small pestos and grinding nuts/seeds – it makes the vitamix way more functional. Thanks so much Laura!
This is basically my dream dessert in a bar. I would eat a whole pan in two days. Also – I love the juxtaposition of Christmas and Auckland weather! I thought it was “not very Christmas-y” outside here but I think you’ve got me beat;) Also a Christmas BBQ does sound pretty rad…
Ah me too! Haha I love a Christmas barbecue – I had a white Christmas a few years ago and that seemed super strange, like being in a movie or something. Thanks Sarah!