Healthy Homemade Nougat Candy Bars (aka 3 Musketeerz)
Welcome, my fellow candy lovers! What’s your vice? Is that a Snickers or Milky Ways bar? Peanut Butter Cups? Peppermint Patties? Maybe you’re the Take 5 type. Or perhaps you’re a fan of the simple things — like chocolate-covered nougat. If you’re the type who can plow through bags of Halloween candy like a six-year-old on a serious sugar high, then let’s be friends, because I’m the same exact way — my vice is good old Hershey’s. We all know that candy is bad for us (where do I start? The high-fructose corn syrup, the trans fats, the artificial flavors…), so I made it HEALTHY. And HOMEMADE. I introduce to you, Healthy Homemade Nougat Candy Bars (aka, 3 Musketeerz)!
HOW. GOOD. DOES. THIS. LOOK.
A ton of people have emailed me over the years to make a healthy version of nougat, so I did it! No need for the nasty ingredients either, so toss out that corn syrup and get rid of that white sugar. This natural goodness is super sweet, chocolatey, and best of all, 100% DELICIOUS.
Although, I must warn you… nougat is a veeeery time-intensive recipe. It literally takes 3 days to make, but it’s so so SO worth it.
The nougat is very delicate and soft (and kind of a pain in the ass to slice), but once it’s chilled and coated in chocolate, you’ll forget you why you were ever annoyed in the first place. The filling is softer than the fluffiest marshmallows in all the land. The bar as a whole is more fresh and flavorful than anything that comes prepackaged in a wrapper that sat on a shelf collecting dust for 6 months.
Your teeth will sink into these Healthy Homemade Nougat Candy Bars like you’re biting into a fluffy cloud. They’re so dang good, you’d never know they’re all lower in calories, fat, and sugar than the storebought kinds. Plus, they’re all natural too (no food dyes, artificial flavorings, or trans fats here)!
AMEN BROTHAS AND SISTAS! For candy bars have been made healthy, totally guilt free, and 100% from scratch.
Healthy Homemade Nougat Candy Bars (aka 3 Musketeerz)
Ingredients
- 192g (1 cup) Granulated Erythritol
- 252g (¾ cup) Agave Nectar
- ½ cup Water
- ⅛ tsp Salt
- 2 Large Egg Whites (room temperature)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Paste
- 6 oz Milk Chocolate
- 6 oz Dark Chocolate
- 56g (¼ cup) Coconut Oil
Instructions
- Spray two 8" brownie pans with cooking spray and line parchment paper both ways.
- In a medium-sized saucepan (I used a 2-quart pan), stir together the erythritol, agave, water, and salt, until evenly mixed. Place over medium-high heat and add a candy thermometer to the pot. Cook without stirring until it reaches 220 degrees Fahrenheit. While this is on the stove, put the egg whites in stand mixer bowl with whisk attachment. When the stovetop mixture reaches 260 degrees, start beating the egg whites on medium/high until stiff peaks form. When the temperature reaches 280 degrees, remove the pan from the heat.
- Increase the mixer speed to high and VERY SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY drizzle the hot syrup into the whipping egg whites in a thin and steady stream. Beat until very thick and glossy (~8 minutes). In the last minute, add the vanilla paste.
- Scoop the mixture into both brownie pans, trying to make them as even as possible. Spread the mixture out using an offset spatula. Place a sheet of parchment paper on top of each pan of nought. Press down with your hands to make sure it's flat and even. Let the nougat sit at room temperature overnight.
- The next day, with a very sharp knife, slice each pan's worth of nougat into 6 long strips. This nougat is fragile and sticky, so don't be too rough when slicing, and clean the knife off after every slice. Refrigerate the nougat uncovered overnight.
- The next day, melt the chocolate and coconut oil together in a large, shallow dish. Coat the nougat, one slice at a time, in the melted chocolate. Use 2 forks to transfer, dip, flip over, and remove the nougat from the chocolate.
- Chill until the chocolate hardens, then serve and enjoy!
Only 140 calories for a delicious candy bar? Yes, puh-lease.
Compared to storebought 3 Musketeers bars, my recipe has:
- 100 less calories
- 2.5g less saturated fat
- 27g less carbs
- 24g less sugar (that’s 2 TABLEspoons!)
So soft, so sweet, so chocolatey. It’s heavenly. Heavenly and guilt-free!
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
Yum! These look amazing!
WOOOOW. Those look sinfully soft and puffy! Truly cloudlike nougat in there! It looks like we are on the same candy bar wavelength today. Can’t get enough healthy candy this time of year! I would love to make these and your snickers soon!!
Awww thanks Annie! Your candy bars looked beyond amazing 🙂
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do you think you coud swap the agave with liquid stevia or xylitol? I cannot stand the taste of agave!
I actually don’t really like the taste of agave either, but these bars really don’t taste like agave 🙂
The agave definitely can’t be omitted, but I’m pretty sure it can be substituted with honey or maple syrup (I am almost certain that stevia won’t work. You can replace the erythritol with xylitol, but the liquid sweetener is a required ingredient). Hope this helps!! 🙂
How about using liquid allulose instead of the agave? It is basically the same consistency. I can’t have agave and I really want to try making nougat. Also, would this work out the same if adding chocolate to the nougat so it is more like the 3 musketeers?
Three musketeers is on of my favorite candy bars! The light airy filling is what I love about it!!! These look amazing
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Could I substitute something for the erythritol besides xylitol im allergic to both… Thanks they look delicious!!
I haven’t tried this, but you can try substituting the erythritol with evaporated cane juice or another unrefined granulated sweetener! 🙂
Agave sugar has two issues. It’s worse for you than sugar. But, much to my amusement the second issue is that most agave syrup is just sugar. Because the syrup from Agave is the same ingredient used to make tequila. It is much more profitable to make the liquor so counterfeit agave is very prolific.
My method is to let myself have plain old raw sugar in smaller quantities. I discovered that that all by itself led me to find that most things that need sweetener, need much less. Because after letting my taste buds rest let them recover.
This looks yummy but I’m having an agave nectar issue, too. The NET CARBS for one piece is over 8g. The amount of nectar needed yields by itself 180g. Adding in the CHOCOLATE adds more CARBS. I gave the benefit of the doubt and used 192g divided by 24 pieces for my NET take on this only because I’d use hersheys chocolate (5 lbs bag and create my own for carb control). If anyone reading is keeping to 20g of carbs or less a day, that’s quite a chunk. But, where there’s a will, there’s a way so I’m bookmarking this and will now start my hunt for a keto alternative to the agave. Thanks for this post!
I don’t remember ever saying this recipe was kept or diabetic-friendly… even though it’s lower in sugar/carbs/calories than store-bought candy.
Have you ever tried Lily’s sugar free chocolate? It’s AMAZING!
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Everyone loves this stuff! I make this recipe using Splenda and IMO fiber syrup though, because I’m making them for diabetics, but it comes out so fluffy and sweet. They can’t get enough of it! I make a batch almost every week lol
Oh wow, so glad those substitutions work out for you! I’ve always wanted to try IMO syrup! Thanks for letting me know, so happy you like the recipe 🙂
What would the shelf life be?
I’d say about a week in a tightly sealed container in the fridge!
Sorry, Way too sweet for me. Will try it with allulose, tho.