Peanut Butter Chip Brittle

It’s that time of year again when I’m searching for treats to make and bring to work to share. Although I made this peanut butter chip brittle for Thanksgiving, I think it’s a great addition to your cookie or candy gifts this year.

I came upon this recipe because I had purchased 2 bags of peanut butter chips on a whim. I needed to use them up, so this was one of the recipes that caught my eye. It was fairly simple to make, although I may have gotten a little whisk burn on my hand from standing over the stove so long.

This came out beautifully, and it didn’t call for a lot of ingredients. Although some thought this was a bit sweet, well candy is sweet! It reminded my family of the filling in Almond Rocas, one of our favorite candies growing up. I brought a tin to work once, but I was surprised many people didn’t know what it was.

The recipe indicated that I would be stirring for about 30-35 minutes. The gauge on the thermometer seemed to rise pretty fast…until it hit 220°. After that, the temperature seemed to slow to a crawl, but it eventually got there. At 260° the mixture started to look like sweetened condensed milk. At about 280°, it started to look like dulce de leche. It was a nice and brown, and bubbly when it finally hit 300°!

Since my family liked it so much, I’m planning on making a batch of peanut brittle over the holidays.

Peanut Butter Chip Brittle
source: Hershey’s

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 2/3 cups (10-oz. package) REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips, divided
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter or margarine
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 tablespoons water

directions:
Butter 15-1/2x10-1/2x1-inch (preferably nonstick) jelly roll pan. Sprinkle 1 cup peanut butter chips evenly onto bottom of prepared pan; set aside.

Melt butter in heavy 2-1/2-quart saucepan; stir in sugar, corn syrup and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture reaches 300°F. on candy thermometer until thick, brown and bubbly, can range from 30-50 minutes. (Bulb of thermometer should not rest on bottom of saucepan.)

Remove from heat. Immediately pour mixture evenly into prepared pan; sprinkle with remaining 2/3 cup peanut butter chips. Cool completely. Remove from pan. Break into pieces. Store in tightly covered container in cool, dry place.

Makes about 2 pounds brittle.