Things Neniell Made: Peanut Brittle

Another holiday staple around here is peanut brittle. This requires boiling sugar to a high temperature and then cooking peanuts in the boiling sugar. The process isn't very time consuming unless you decide to make 5 batches of it. After the 3rd batch you begin to wonder what you were thinking.

Peanut brittle isn't difficult to make. If you haven't worked with boiling a sugar mixture, I recommend getting a candy thermometer before attempting this recipe. The peanuts also have to be raw to get the right flavor. Raw peanuts can be bought pre-shelled and skinless.

Peanut Brittle (Printer-friendly PDF Version)

1 C white karo syrup

2 C sugar

1/2 C water

1 T butter

1 t vanilla

2 t baking soda

2 1/2 raw peanuts (approx. 1 pound)

Prepare your ingredients before starting. Place the nuts in their own bowl (we used a bit less than 2 1/2 cups). Place the butter & vanilla in a bowl together. Put the baking soda in a separate bowl.

Prepare cookie sheets by coating them with a thick layer of butter. We use old cookie sheets for this.

Place the karo syrup, sugar, and water in a medium or large pot. Heat over medium-high heat while stirring constantly until the sugar boils. Continue to boil and stir until the sugar mixture reaches the hard crack stage (this will take around 12 minutes). The hard crack stage is at 300degrees. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can test by pouring a bit into a glass of cold water. At the hard crack stage you will hear a cracking noise as the sugar cools in the water. The sugar will also be hard (and pointy!) when you try to remove it from the glass of water. Under-heating the sugar will cause the peanut brittle to be soft and gooey when cooled.

Once the sugar reaches the hard crack stage, add the peanuts. Cook the peanuts in the boiling sugar for about 4 minutes. The peanuts will be done when you can see them "talking". The sugar mixture will also start to bubble.