Butterscotch Cashew Nut Haystacks & Chocolate Hazelnut Haystacks

A couple recipe variations on the Chocolate Peanut Butter Coconut Haystacks from awhile ago. First, Butterscotch Cashew Nut Haystacks and.....

I often make the chocolate peanut butter coconut haystacks when I need a sweet hit as they are so easy to whip up, require no baking and are absolutely delicious. However, I've been wanting to cut out the white sugar, or at least try to and not only do they call for white sugar but on the day I needed them I also had no cocoa powder. Tragedy!

So, out of that catastrophe came the butterscotch cashew nut haystacks. Peanut butter has been swapped with cashew nut butter, coconut replaced with toasted chopped cashews and the white sugar with dark brown sugar. Yes, I know - they still have a lot of sugar. I'm not quite ready for my sweet treats to be sweetened solely with dates or some other kind of madness (I jest!) Give me time....LOTS of time ;-) But they are a bit healthier and definitely delicious.

Eventually I restocked my cocoa powder, well, within a couple of hours as it's cocoa powder, hello?? That requires an emergency run to the grocery store! As I was so impressed with the addition of nuts to these I made a chocolate hazelnut version which my husband has claimed to be his absolute favourite of the three.

So, a couple new versions for you to try and even to experiment with your own variations. Just keep the quantities the same and swap away!

Butterscotch Cashew Nut Haystacks:

40g vegan butter

150g dark brown sugar

40ml unsweetened almond milk

40g cashew butter, all natural – unsweetened and no salt added

70g oats 

60g unsalted cashews, chopped and toasted

2 tsp vanilla extract

tiny pinch of salt

Chocolate Hazelnut Haystacks:

40g vegan butter

150g golden caster sugar (or any type of sugar)
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

40ml unsweetened almond milk

40g hazelnut butter, all natural – unsweetened and no salt added

70g oats 

60g unsalted hazelnuts, chopped and toasted

2 tsp vanilla extract

tiny pinch of salt

Both yield about 12 haystacks depending on what size you prefer.

Instructions for either recipe:

Line a chopping board or flat plate with baking or parchment paper and set aside.

In a small frying pan add the chopped cashews/hazelnuts and toast until lightly golden brown.

In a medium sized bowl add the oats, nuts, cashew or hazelnut butter and salt. Don't mix it - just set it aside.

In a small saucepan add the butter, sugar (cocoa powder for the hazelnut version) and milk. Stir and slowly bring to the boil, if it starts to boil before the butter melts then turn the heat down. Keep stirring and once the butter and sugar have melted, turn the heat up to high to bring it to a rolling boil. Once at a rolling boil, stop stirring and let it boil for exactly 1 minute. Now, take it off the heat and give it a good vigorous stir until it is no longer foamy. Add the vanilla and mix well - it will sizzle a bit. 

Scrape it all into the oat mixture and quickly give it a really good mix until the nut butter and everything is very well blended.

Working quickly as these will set pretty fast, take a tablespoon of the mixture and drop them onto the paper lined board/plate. Use another spoon to push them off - not your fingers as the mixture will be VERY hot! .....God I'm such a mom sometimes...

Once they are all on the sheet pop it into the fridge for them to cool and fully set. They set pretty fast, about an hour.

Tip - get some hot water into the saucepan now for easy cleaning :-)

Nutritional Information: per haystack, either recipe (they are more or less the same)

Calories: 148

Protein: 2.4g

Fat: 7.9g

Sat Fat: 1g

Carbs: 18.4g

Sugar: 12.9g

Fibre: 1.8g

Sodium: 157mg

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