Delicious, homemade, old fashioned peanut brittle recipe is certain to satisfy your sweet tooth and be a favorite for your whole family! This easy-to-follow classic recipe uses simple ingredients to create the perfect crunchy peanut brittle. This timeless treat is a real crowd-pleaser and is perfect for snacks and thoughtful edible gifts during the holiday season or any time of the year.
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Ingredients and Special Equipment – Here’s What You’ll Need
I used the following ingredients:
- The Nuts: You can’t have peanut brittle without peanuts, right? For this recipe, I used dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts.
- The Brittle: I used granulated sugar, light corn syrup, water, and fine sea salt for the brittle.
- Bringing Up the Rear: Once the brittle had reached the required temperature, I added unsalted butter, vanilla extract, and baking soda.
- Special Equipment: Peanut brittle depends on the crystalized sugar reaching certain temperatures. A good candy thermometer and a heavy saucepan are key here. I used a three-quart All Clad saucepan.
Why Add Corn Syrup to the Old-Fashioned Peanut Brittle?
Corn syrup is a key ingredient in peanut brittle and other candies and ice creams. In peanut brittle, corn syrup helps prevent the sugar from crystallizing as it caramelizes and stabilizes the candy.
However, some people are reluctant to use corn syrup in their confections because of the negative health effects of high-fructose corn syrup.
The truth of the matter is that corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup are two very different products. Although both products are made from corn starch, regular corn syrup is 100% glucose.
Conversely, high-fructose corn syrup undergoes a chemical process that converts about half of the glucose into fructose.
Karo Light Corn Syrup, used in this recipe, is 100% glucose, but this is not necessarily the case with other corn syrups. Check the label. If high-fructose corn syrup has been added, it or HFCS will be listed on the ingredients label.
Making the Old-Fashioned Peanut Brittle – Step-by-Step
- The first thing that I did was add the sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt to my saucepan. I stirred the mixture with a wooden spoon and placed it over medium heat to dissolve the sugar. I could have also used a silicone spatula.
- I then attached my candy thermometer to the pan and continued cooking and stirring the mixture over medium heat until it reached 250°F. It took about 20 minutes to reach 250°F.
- At this point, I added the unsalted dry roasted peanuts.
- When I added the peanuts, the mixture’s temperature dropped significantly. This was not a problem because I continued to cook and stir it over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it reached 300°F, the hard crack stage. This took another 15 minutes or so. During this time, the peanut brittle began to turn golden brown.
It’s important for the peanut brittle to reach the hard crack stage. If it doesn’t, the candy will be sticky.
Anyway, it took another 15 minutes or so to reach 300°F. During this time, the peanut brittle began to turn golden brown.
- When the mixture reached 300°F, I removed the pan from the heat. I added the unsalted butter, vanilla extract, and baking soda and stirred the mixture so that everything was well combined.
Baking soda is an important ingredient in peanut brittle. It produces many little bubbles in the candy, which gives it a more delicate texture and crunch.
- I poured the peanut brittle mixture onto the heated cookie sheet that I had lined with nonstick aluminum foil, spreading it in a single layer.
- To room temperature, I let the peanut brittle cool completely on a wire rack.
After the peanut brittle had cooled completely, I began the fun part of breaking it into pieces.
Homemade old-fashioned peanut brittle is a delicious and nostalgic treat that is easier to make than you might think! With just a few simple ingredients and some attentive boiling, you can create a batch of this crunchy candy that is certain to satisfy your whole family any time of year. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
Candy making is all about reaching specific temperatures, and a candy thermometer is the best way to ensure your peanut brittle turns out perfectly crispy. In a pinch, you could use the old-fashioned way of determining if the mixture has reached the hard crack stage – drop the hot syrup into a bowl of cold water. If the syrup reaches the hard crack stage, it will form brittle, hard threads that easily crack and break when bent.
The most likely culprit is not cooking the mixture to the proper temperature. For the peanut brittle to harden properly, it must reach the hard crack stage, around 300°F.
Baking soda is a key ingredient that helps aerate the candy, giving it that light and airy texture with a satisfying crunch.
The most likely reason peanut brittle turns sticky is that it is not properly stored in an airtight container. A freezer gallon ziploc bag works well here.
When stored in an airtight container at room temperature, peanut brittle can last up to 6 weeks!
Feel free to substitute toasted pecan pieces or walnuts in this recipe for pecan or walnut brittle.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- You can line your baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil or a piece of parchment paper. However, I highly recommend greasing the baking sheet with butter or nonstick spray before covering it with aluminum foil or parchment paper to prevent the covering from sliding around when spreading the peanut brittle.
- While the peanut brittle mixture is cooking, I like to heat the lined baking sheet in the oven. I then put the heated baking sheet on two burners and turned them on low to continue heating it. This is because the peanut brittle mixture quickly begins to harden when removed from the heat. It is much easier to spread if poured onto a heated surface.
- I like to use a large spoon sprayed with nonstick spray to spread out the sticky peanut brittle mixture. The nonstick spray helps to keep the peanut brittle mixture from sticking to the spoon.
- A main ingredient in peanut brittle is sugar, which is hygroscopic. This means that it attacks moisture. If the peanut brittle is not stored in an airtight container, it is likely to get sticky from the humidity in the air. Also, it should not be refrigerated because refrigeration will alter its consistency.
Other Crispy Crunchy Treats
If you’re a fan of crispy and crunchy, check out these delicious recipes.
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Homemade Old-Fashioned Peanut Brittle
Equipment
- Candy thermometer
- Heavy 3-quart saucepan
- half-sheet pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup (7 ounces, 198n grams) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (5.5 ounces, 156 grams) Karo light corn syrup
- ¼ cup (2 ounces, 59 ml) water
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt (See Tip 1)
- 1 ¾ cups (8.75 ounces, 248 grams) unsalted dry roasted peanuts (See Tip 1)
- 2 Tablespoons (1 ounce, 28 grams) unsalted butter (See Tip 1) softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Grease a half-sheet pan with butter or nonstick spray; cover with nonstick aluminum foil or parchment paper. (See Tip 2)
- Add sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt to a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Set the candy thermometer in place and continue cooking, stirring frequently. When the temperature reaches 250° F, add the peanuts. (See Tip 2)
- Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the temperature reaches 300°F or until a small amount of the mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.
- Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter, vanilla extract, and baking soda. Pour at once onto a heated cookie sheet. Using a large spoon with the back sprayed with non-stick spray, spread the mixture into a rectangle, about 14 x 12 inches. Cool completely.
- Break the peanut brittle into pieces. Store in an airtight container for up to six weeks. Do not refrigerate.
- Yield: 16 servings.
Video
Tips/Notes
- Omit the salt if using salted dry roasted peanuts and/or if using salted butter.
- Note that adding the peanuts will lower the temperature and thicken the mixture.
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