Old Fashion Peanut Brittle
You'll need a "Candy Thermometer" that can go up to 300 degrees. Also needed is a couple of cookie sheets or pans to spread the peanut brittle after it is done Thoroughly butter all sides of these pans or the peanut brittle will stick! Things get very difficult if the peanut brittle sticks to the pan. Some say put the pan in the freezer, but I don't want it cooling too quickly since not too fast at spreading yet.
Recipe:
2 Cups Organic Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Organic Light Corn Syrup (avoid GMOs/pesticides)
1/4 Cup of Organic Butter*
1/2 Cup of Water
2 1/2 cups of raw nuts (can be all peanuts or mix of peanuts and almonds or combo with cashews, pecans, macadamia, pistachio, pumpkin seeds (slightly toasted)
1 1/2 teaspoons of Fair Trade Vanilla
2 teaspoons of Baking Soda
*See our product recommendations below where we outline why we think your butter choice can impact your success.
Recipe:
2 Cups Organic Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Organic Light Corn Syrup (avoid GMOs/pesticides)
1/4 Cup of Organic Butter*
1/2 Cup of Water
2 1/2 cups of raw nuts (can be all peanuts or mix of peanuts and almonds or combo with cashews, pecans, macadamia, pistachio, pumpkin seeds (slightly toasted)
1 1/2 teaspoons of Fair Trade Vanilla
2 teaspoons of Baking Soda
*See our product recommendations below where we outline why we think your butter choice can impact your success.
Combine all of these ingredients, sugar, corn syrup, butter, and water into a saucepan. Stir over medium heat to combine ingredients and then leave pan until it starts boiling.
Leave on medium low heat or whatever it takes to have a slow consistent boil. Now is when you will be needing that candy thermometer. Plan on the next step taking about 25-35 minutes at least, maybe longer. You are going to have to keep checking until it 275 degrees. This is also known as the soft-crack stage.
NOW ADD 2 1/2 CUPS OF RAW ORGANIC PEANUTS. You can find them on Amazon. Stir just until combined. Bring it back to that semi low consistent boil. Plan on another 20 minutes for the next stage.
Keep checking with you candy thermometer. You will want it at 295-300 degrees. When you get there, turn off the burner and take the pan off the heat.
DON'T DO WHAT WE DID THE FIRST TIME AND FORGET THAT YOU NOW HAVE TO ADD THE VANILLA AND BAKING SODA!
Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla and quickly mix in because time is ticking before it hardens. Won't take long. Next sprinkle one teaspoon of baking soda, stir a little, then add the other teaspoon of baking soda.
Have a butter spatula ready to transfer peanut brittle to one pan or two for spreading.
IF USING TWO PANS, DO NOT PUT SOME ON ONE PAN, SPREAD IT, AND THEN TRY AND GET THE REST OUT OF THE PAN ONTO THE OTHER TRAY FOR SPREADING!
Instead remove all peanut brittle from the pan right away, then spread. Otherwise you will have a very hard time getting cooled peanut brittle out of that pan. Soak in really hot water to wash hardened candy off pans and utensils.
Spread as thin as you can. Thicker brittle is not better. If you waste too much time spreading, it can get softer and harder to eat.
Let the brittle cool and then break into pieces.
We found some really cute cookie/candy holiday boxes at the 99 Cent Store. Great gift for the holidays!
PRODUCT RECOMMENDATIONS:
Organic Pasture Grass fed High Fat Butter like Organic Valley.
Why we think you should be picky about your butter. We were having trouble getting the brittle crispy so tried a higher temperature and seemed to help, but was close to burning the nuts. Then we remembered the butter we were using was the store brand called Cadia and had noticed moisture when had melted some in a pan. The other problem I was having was the brittle was sticking to the surface where I spread it and tried different pans/surfaces including granite. It was when I compared how the pasture butter felt on the granite compared to the other butter that I realized that it stuck because the moisture left streaks so no fat to keep the brittle from sticking.
Wholesome Sweeteners or Trader Joe's Organic Corn Syrup and Granulated Syrup
Our gov't allows field and sweet corn to be GMO now so any corn syrup product that is not organic can be GMO.
Those are the two go twos unless Wholesome Sweeteners is co packing for another company.
Always Make Your Vanilla Fair Trade. Organic Fair Trade is Even Better!
Singing Dog Vanilla comes with a vanilla bean in their bottle of extract and makes an incredible vanilla bean paste as well as other products.
Simply Organic is a company we have trusted for decades wide variety of products and is part of Frontier our next choice.
Frontier has also been around for decades and is highly trusted stewards of the earth. You can even register with them as a co op for group discounts. Such integrity and a wide variety of spices and products.
Flavorganics is a company that you will want to explore for all of the incredible flavors they offer and no pesticides or artificial anything!
Use the best and eat less.
Leave on medium low heat or whatever it takes to have a slow consistent boil. Now is when you will be needing that candy thermometer. Plan on the next step taking about 25-35 minutes at least, maybe longer. You are going to have to keep checking until it 275 degrees. This is also known as the soft-crack stage.
NOW ADD 2 1/2 CUPS OF RAW ORGANIC PEANUTS. You can find them on Amazon. Stir just until combined. Bring it back to that semi low consistent boil. Plan on another 20 minutes for the next stage.
Keep checking with you candy thermometer. You will want it at 295-300 degrees. When you get there, turn off the burner and take the pan off the heat.
DON'T DO WHAT WE DID THE FIRST TIME AND FORGET THAT YOU NOW HAVE TO ADD THE VANILLA AND BAKING SODA!
Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla and quickly mix in because time is ticking before it hardens. Won't take long. Next sprinkle one teaspoon of baking soda, stir a little, then add the other teaspoon of baking soda.
Have a butter spatula ready to transfer peanut brittle to one pan or two for spreading.
IF USING TWO PANS, DO NOT PUT SOME ON ONE PAN, SPREAD IT, AND THEN TRY AND GET THE REST OUT OF THE PAN ONTO THE OTHER TRAY FOR SPREADING!
Instead remove all peanut brittle from the pan right away, then spread. Otherwise you will have a very hard time getting cooled peanut brittle out of that pan. Soak in really hot water to wash hardened candy off pans and utensils.
Spread as thin as you can. Thicker brittle is not better. If you waste too much time spreading, it can get softer and harder to eat.
Let the brittle cool and then break into pieces.
We found some really cute cookie/candy holiday boxes at the 99 Cent Store. Great gift for the holidays!
PRODUCT RECOMMENDATIONS:
Organic Pasture Grass fed High Fat Butter like Organic Valley.
Why we think you should be picky about your butter. We were having trouble getting the brittle crispy so tried a higher temperature and seemed to help, but was close to burning the nuts. Then we remembered the butter we were using was the store brand called Cadia and had noticed moisture when had melted some in a pan. The other problem I was having was the brittle was sticking to the surface where I spread it and tried different pans/surfaces including granite. It was when I compared how the pasture butter felt on the granite compared to the other butter that I realized that it stuck because the moisture left streaks so no fat to keep the brittle from sticking.
Wholesome Sweeteners or Trader Joe's Organic Corn Syrup and Granulated Syrup
Our gov't allows field and sweet corn to be GMO now so any corn syrup product that is not organic can be GMO.
Those are the two go twos unless Wholesome Sweeteners is co packing for another company.
Always Make Your Vanilla Fair Trade. Organic Fair Trade is Even Better!
Singing Dog Vanilla comes with a vanilla bean in their bottle of extract and makes an incredible vanilla bean paste as well as other products.
Simply Organic is a company we have trusted for decades wide variety of products and is part of Frontier our next choice.
Frontier has also been around for decades and is highly trusted stewards of the earth. You can even register with them as a co op for group discounts. Such integrity and a wide variety of spices and products.
Flavorganics is a company that you will want to explore for all of the incredible flavors they offer and no pesticides or artificial anything!
Use the best and eat less.
This is how much we got from this recipe.