Crunchy Old-Fashioned Peanut Brittle Tutorial

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Peanut Brittle is a holiday favorite of mine.  It reminds me of sitting over holiday break eating peanut brittle working on puzzles.  My mom always made it every Christmas and would always tell us how our Great Grandma Eva used to make it even better.  I've been making it for Christmas ever since I was married, but this year mi Suegro (father-in-law) asked me to bring some at Thanksgiving.  And I was happy to fulfill that request.   

Peanut Brittle isn't hard to make, you just need to make sure to prepare all your things before you start.  Here are some tips that have helped me to turn out a great batch of brittle.   

GATHER YOUR INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups Raw Spanish Peanuts

2 Cups White Sugar

1 Cup Corn Syrup

2/3 Cup Water

1/4 Cup Butter

2 tsp Vanilla

2 tsp Baking Soda

and a Glass or Stainless steel Candy Thermometer

My mom and great-grandma used a large wooden cutting board that was COVERED IN FOIL and then BUTTERED. I have found that I can use my baking sheet covered in foil and then buttered.

Make sure to place a trivet or hot pad under the baking sheet.

Measure out your 2 tsp of VANILLA and 2 tsp of BAKING SODA and have them SET ASIDE so they are ready to add quickly once your brittle reaches hard crack (302 degrees). You can also see the other trivets I have stacked next to my baking sheet. I have found that my pot is too heavy for me to hold up with one arm while scraping it out with my other arm. So having trivets stacked next to my baking sheet allows me to set my pot down while scraping it out onto the sheet. 

Make sure you have a glass or stainless steel CANDY THERMOMETER and place it in your pot. Make sure that your thermometer isn't touching the bottom of the pan, but is still low enough that the bottom is covered by your candy.

Place all of your ingredients in the pot: Raw Spanish Peanuts, corn syrup, sugar, water, butter-- EXCEPT the VANILLA and BAKING SODA, they get added last after the cooking is done. Using a LONG SPOON to stir with is helpful because it helps keep my hands out of the steam. Your going to be stirring the entire time it cooks and it gets hot.

TURN UP THE HEAT:
 to Medium High

Start cooking and stirring....

And Stirring...

Keep stirring while your temperature starts to climb, here I'm at 225 degrees.  You'll find it will climb and then hover at one temperature and you start to wonder if it's ever going to keep going up.  Be patient and just keep stirring, it will get hotter and when it does sometimes it climbs pretty quickly.  

 FAST AND FURIOUS:

You'll notice in the pictures that the color progresses to a caramel color as it cooks.  You'll also begin to smell the peanuts cooking, and then your mouth starts watering knowing your almost there. 

HARD CRACK IS AT 302 DEGREES.  Once you reach 302, turn off the stove and REMOVE FROM HEAT.  Below is my last picture just before 302, notice the caramel color. It is possible to over cook it so as soon as you are to 302 degrees get it off the heat.  Next I ADDED the VANILLA and BAKING SODA.  Just dump them in and stir a few times until it is mixed in well. The last two ingredients make it bubble up so you want to stir to incorporate the ingredients evenly, but not stir out all of the bubbles as this gives your Christmas candy a lighter, airier consistency.  

 THEN POUR:

I, of course, don't have a picture of this cause my sweetie pie was keeping the kids out of the kitchen for me while I poured.  I dumped as much out as I could and then set the pan on my stacked trivets adjacent to my baking sheet allowing me to scrape out the remainder with my spoon before it cooled and hardened to the pan.  

 Once you have poured it out there are a few techniques that you can use to get it the way you like it:  

• My Mom will pick up her foiled cutting board that she poured it onto and tip it from side to side to get it to run and spread out more.  
• Great-grandma Eva would use rubber gloves and grab the edges that have cooled and pull them out from the center.  Pulling it gives it a very thin delicate feel with bumps of peanut crunch.  
• Or you could just do it like I did, pour it out, let it cool for a few minutes and put it in the car to take to Thanksgiving dinner!

Any way you like it, it's going to be delicious!!!

Just remember, if your in a humid place like I am, keep it stored in an airtight container, 
if there's any left over.