Candy Of The Week: Peanut Brittle

Peanut Brittle is one of those classic homemade candies that is very popular around the holidays. It can be found at many stores, but the store bought brittle is never the same. This is one of my parents favorite holiday treats. Since it is so easy to make, why buy it? This is how you make it; you'll need the following: a medium saucepan. butter spray, a cookie sheet, a candy thermometer, silicon mat (optional, but will change your game), 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of corn syrup, 1/4 cup of water, 2 tbsp butter/margarine, 1 1/2 cups dry roasted peanuts and 1 tsp baking soda.

In the sauce pan above, I combined the sugar, corn syrup, butter and water. I kept stirring the ingredients, helping the sugar to dissolve and blend with the rest of the ingredients.

When the sugars came to a boil, I added the candy thermometer to monitor the temperature. When the temperature reaches 280 degrees F, you add the peanuts and let it boil to 300 degrees F. I made the mistake of misreading the thermometer; so I actually added the peanuts when the syrup mixture reached 230 degrees F. Although this was not how it was supposed to happen, I didn't panic. I treat my kitchen much like I do a Chemistry Lab; when the unexpected happens, I NEVER panic. Since the syrup had a long way to go before it reached the proper temperature, I kept on stirring the mixture so that the peanuts did not scorch.

Once the mixture reached 300 degrees F, I removed the pan from the heat. 

Next, I added the baking soda and stirred quickly. The more you stir, the more the mixture will foam.

Once the mixture is nice and foamy, I transfered the mix onto a greased cookie sheet. You need to be extra cautious with this step, as the candy is very hot! To make my job a lot easier, I lined the cookie sheet with a silicon mat and I greased that. This will make the next step so much easier!

After I allowed the candy to cool, I broke it apart into smaller pieces. This is where the silicon mat comes in handy, because the candy hardens and can be released from the pan in one giant sheet. This made it so much easier to break apart; not to mention, clean up was ridiculously easy! After I broke the pieces to the desired size, I stored them in plastic jars. 

This makes a nice hostess gift or a small gift for a friend, especially if you dress up the jar that you're using to store the candy. It is Good Luck with your candy making! Until next time~ Toodahloo!