My favorite templating library has always been amrita[0]. I really don't like template languages that try to mix code and elements into a single block of text. It mixes together two concerns and creates exceptionally fragile blobs that generally need to be fully rewritten to extend their functionality. Whereas with amrita you can generally keep the two entirely separate which makes a huge difference in practice.
These PHP style template ideas I have never understood. I thought we all agreed 30 years ago that while exceptionally functional for a "quick and dirty" approach they are horrible for long term product or application development.
You have a DOM. Use it as such.