Peanut Brittle

After making the peanut butter chip brittle last month, my family suggested making a regular peanut brittle. I found Martha Stewart’s recipe and decided to use this because it looked so easy.

I’ve always been a fan of sweet and salty things, so this was right up my alley. My sister didn’t like how the original recipe called for whole peanuts. She didn’t want to bite into whole pieces as the original recipe showed, so she chopped them up. I think it actually made it taste better that way if that’s even possible.

While I was working with the sugar in the pan, the liquid didn’t really turn golden to me. It was bubbling a lot, but pretty much remained clearish throughout the whole time, until the last minute. First it was bubbly and boiling. Then after about 7 or 8 minutes, it looked like all the water evaporated and it became dry, grainy sugar again. I thought it was weird, but I kept on whisking away, and it eventually melted again and became amber colored.

The brittle didn’t fill the entire pan as it did last time, but after it was broken up, it was still a good amount of brittle.

In the end, I also had a little bit of dried sugar stuck to my pot. If running it under hot water doesn’t get it off, I recommend boiling a pot of water to loosen it up. It came right off for me that way!

Peanut Brittle
adapted from: Martha Stewart

 printable recipe

ingredients:
Unsalted butter, softened, for baking sheet (use margarine or spray for dairy free)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups salted peanuts, chopped (7 ounces)
Vegetable oil, for spatula

directions:
Butter a rimmed baking sheet; set aside. Measure out  1 1/2 cups peanuts and coarsely chop, set aside.

Stir together sugar, 1/2 cup water, and the salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over high heat, without stirring, until sugar begins to melt and turn golden, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar has melted and mixture turns golden amber, about 10 minutes. Keep stirring, and it will continue to melt the sugar. It will turn into sugar lumps before it liquefies into an amber color.

Remove pan from heat. Stir in peanuts. Immediately pour peanut mixture onto buttered baking sheet. Quickly spread mixture to 1/2 inch thick using an oiled metal spatula. Let cool completely, about 15 minutes. Break brittle into pieces. Brittle can be stored in an airtight container, up to 2 weeks.

Makes about a half sheet pan of brittle.