Peanut brittle

One of my favorite things to make is nut brittle. It’s easy, fast, and a crowd pleaser. It’s easy to do variations. Let me know what you think!

One of the variations is pine nut brittle.

Another variation: Bacon and cardamon. Cook 3/4 pound of bacon and crumble. Remove seeds from 5 pods of cardamon and grind. Add cardamom and bacon with the peanuts. 

Moe's Peanut Brittle

2 ½ cups lightly salted, roasted peanuts (or unsalted nuts and 3/4 tsp salt)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 cups sugar

¼ cup corn syrup

1 ½ cups water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons butter

1. Combine peanuts, baking soda, cinnamon, and cayenne. Set aside. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat (don’t use waxed paper) and set aside. No parchment? Oil the pan.

2. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a heavy saucepan. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until it comes to a boil. Stop stirring, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 3 minutes (see notes for reason). Uncover, adjust heat to medium to maintain a boil, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is a light amber color, about 350 degrees. Be very careful: Once it exceeds 250 degrees and starts to color at all, the reaction accelerates and will burn quickly.

3. Stir in peanuts, then butter and vanilla. This will greatly reduce the temperature of the sugar, so work quickly.

4. Quickly, so the mixture doesn’t solidify before it’s well spread, pour mixture onto lined sheet pan. Distribute across the pan as you pour, then using a silicone spatula, spread thin. 

Cool completely and then break into pieces.

Notes

• Be careful. Melted sugar causes horrible burns.
• Why the three-minute covered simmer? It washes sugar crystals off sides of pot to prevent them falling in later, where they will crystallize the brittle.