Mom's Best Peanut Brittle Recipe - Real Life Dinner (2024)
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My Mom’s Best Peanut Brittle Recipe is my dad’s favorite Christmas Candy. My mom made it every year growing up, and even though I wasn’t a huge fan back then, I can sure appreciate it as an adult. Speaking of appreciation and favorite candy, Old Fashioned Cherry Mash Chocolates is my recipe for my mom’s favorite candy, a Cherry Mash.
I like the crisp crunch and the peanut flavor throughout my Mom’s Best Peanut Brittle Recipe. It’s tasty! After trying a few different recipes, I’ve come to the conclusion that my mom’s recipe really is THE BEST!
step-by-step video for perfect peanut brittle
HOW TO MAKE MOM’S BEST PEANUT BRITTLE
Grease a cookie sheet with butter. Set aside.
Combine butter, baking soda, and vanilla in a bowl. Set aside.
Combine sugar, Karo Syrup, and water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly and bring to a boil until mixture spins a thread when drizzled from your spoon. See the step-by-step video for an example.
Add peanuts and continue stirring the boiling mixture until it turns light brown (approx. same color as a paper bag).
Add the bowl of butter, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix until butter is melted and mixture is foamy from the baking soda.
Pour out onto prepared cookie sheet and spread mixture out with two forks as thinly as you can (approx. 1/4″).
Cool completely.
Use a butter knife to break it into pieces. (See picture at bottom of post.)
MORE CHRISTMAS RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
Crazy Good Mint Fudge
White Chocolate Peppermint Pretzel Crisps
Golden Oreo Peanut Butter Truffles
Holiday Snowball Cookies
Old Fashioned Cherry Mash Chocolates
Mom’s Best Peanut Brittle Recipe is made from very basic ingredients, and you don’t have to have a candy thermometer to make it. Sure, you can use a thermometer. If you don’t have one, you don’t need to feel stressed about messing this up. Just follow the instructions and watch the step-by-step video, and it will turn out great.
Mom’s Best Peanut Brittle Recipe is relatively inexpensive to make and is a great gift for teachers or neighbors. Package it up in a cute bag with a ribbon or add a few pieces to a treat plate.
Frequently Asked Questions about making Mom’s Best Peanut Brittle
where can i buy raw peanuts?
At the local grocery store and online. I have found them in the baking section at my grocery store. Others have bought them from Trader Joe’s, from the produce department of their grocery store, a farmer’s market, and even from a peanut farm.
when using a candy thermometer, what temperature do you bring the boiling mixture to?
Hard crack stage, which is between 300-310 degrees. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, stir the boiling mixture until it spins a thread when drizzled from the spoon. It sounds crazy, but you’ll know what I’m talking about when it happens. See the step-by-step video towards the beginning of the post for an example of what it looks like.
I have only used raw peanuts, but I don’t know of any reason why other nuts would not work. A couple of readers used almonds, and it turned out good for them.
Combine butter, baking soda, and vanilla in a bowl. Set aside.
Combine sugar, Karo Syrup, and water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly and bring to a boil until mixture spins a thread when drizzled from your spoon. Sounds crazy, but you'll know what I am talking about when it happens. See the step-by-step video for an example.
Add peanuts and continue stirring the boiling mixture until it turns brown, like in the pictures, (approx. same color as a paper bag).
Add the bowl of butter, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix until butter is melted and mixture is foamy from the baking soda.
Pour out onto prepared cookie sheet and spread mixture out with two forks as thinly as you can (approx. ¼").
Cool completely.
Use a butter knife to break it into pieces. (See picture below.)
Don’t Forget to pin this amazing recipe to your favorite pinterest board!
More tried and true candy recipes
Merry Widow CaramelsHomemade Toffee with Chocolate and AlmondsPeanut Butter Cup Bars {No Bake}
Outside of that single ingredient, peanut brittle is painfully unhealthy. It contains: sugar, corn syrup, and butter, all of which are unhealthy for your body in different ways. But, peanut brittle becomes terrible for your teeth once all of those ingredients are combined into the final product.
To store: Once it's completely cooled, store peanut brittle in an airtight container at room temperature. Do not refrigerate as the moisture from the fridge will cause the brittle to soften. Store for 6-8 weeks. To Freeze: Peanut brittle can be frozen and stored up to 3 months.
This is because you did not cook it long enough in the microwave. If the texture of the peanut brittle is sticky, and not crunchy, this means that you need to cook the mixture longer, until it reaches 300°F.
The general origin story of peanut brittle is that it came from the South, and that a Southern woman in the second half of the 19th century came up with peanut brittle by accidentally putting baking soda into her taffy instead of cream of tartar.
Baking soda is a key ingredient in peanut brittle. It's what aerates the candy, giving it a nice light crunch. Why didn't my homemade peanut brittle get hard? The main reason why peanut brittle doesn't get hard and have the crunch we expect is because the sugar was not cooked long enough.
Individuals with diabetes need foods that can help manage blood sugar and weight. Peanuts and peanut butter can be a powerful ally to reaching success. Peanuts and peanut butter have a low glycemic index, which means they don't cause blood sugar to rise sharply.
Peanut brittle turning white, often referred to as "sugaring," is typically the result of crystallization of the sugar in the candy. This crystallization can make the brittle appear white or cloudy rather than having a clear, glass-like consistency.
Absolutely! If you want to extend the life of your peanut brittle, you can freeze it. But, make sure it is completely cooled, as moisture is an enemy of peanut brittle. Ensure the brittle pieces are separated by parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together.
What's important to know is that the corn syrup controls the grain of the brittle so adding too little and you have a grainy textured brittle, while adding too much will result in a stringy and sticky brittle.
Didn't get it hot enough. You have to hit hard crack stage heat or it's not going to harden. From internet: Hard-Crack Stage is a cooking term meaning that a sugar syrup being heated has reached 149 – 154 C (300 – 310 F.) It is a test of how hot a sugar syrup is, and of how much water is left in it.
Why Is My Peanut Brittle Chewy / Sticky / Didn't Harden? This is a temperature issue. Make sure the candy thermometer reaches exactly 300ºF / 149ºC, which is hard crack stage, before pouring onto baking sheet.
But did you know that this popular treat may very well be an American invention? That's right. And an American folk hero of yore may have helped garner its fame. In fact, peanut brittle's place in American pop culture is certainly an established one.
Peanut brittle's prominence during holidays and celebrations solidified its place in American culinary traditions. The southern United States, known for its love affair with pecans, introduced another star to the brittle scene: pecan brittle.
This past Christmas Food Network had a Kid's Holiday Baking Championship special, and on it, one of the contestants made bulldog brittle. According to this girl, it's a Georgian speciality, hence bulldog (the bulldog being University of Georgia's mascot).
Peanuts are high in unsaturated fat, mostly monounsaturated fat (the type that is also in olive and rapeseed oil). This means they're high in calories. But they're also a source of fibre, protein and a range of vitamins and minerals.
Some of the healthiest nuts include Brazil nuts, pistachios, cashews, and almonds. There are many options to enjoy this nutritional treat, but be sure to enjoy them in moderation. Nuts have health benefits, like reducing your heart disease risk.
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Introduction: My name is Madonna Wisozk, I am a attractive, healthy, thoughtful, faithful, open, vivacious, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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My Mom’s Best Peanut Brittle Recipe is my dad’s favorite Christmas Candy. My mom made it every year growing up, and even though I wasn’t a huge fan back then, I can sure appreciate it as an adult. Speaking of appreciation and favorite candy, Old Fashioned Cherry Mash Chocolates is my recipe for my mom’s favorite candy, a Cherry Mash.
