Peanut Brittle

Working with sugar is many things. It's fun and yields tasty results, but it also can be very dangerous and requires precision, which can lead to frustration when all the conditions aren't exactly right. Too much humidity in the air, for example, can make your sugar too wet and not come out the way you had planned. It's still worth trying, but believe me when I say you NEED to be CAREFUL. 300 degree sugar is no joke. If you get it on your skin it will stick and burn and continue to burn as it sticks. It's HOT. Sugar recipes aren't too kid friendly, at least until they're ready to eat!


This recipe evolved from one off of allrecipes.com.


Peanut Brittle
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups salted peanuts
2 tbsp margarine, softened
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar, corn syrup and water over medium heat until the sugar is melted. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the sugar mixture reaches 300 degrees.

2. Have Everything Ready In Advance For This Step!!: When the mixture reaches 300, turn off the heat, add the margarine, baking soda, vanilla, and peanuts and stir like heck because it's going to want to be solid almost immediately. BE CAREFUL! The mixture bubbles and foams like a witches brew.

3. Pour the candy out onto a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat sheet and use a silicone spatula to spread it thin. For the love of God, man, DO NOT touch the candy!! In case you missed the other warnings, IT'S GOING TO BE FREAKING HOT!!

4. Allow the candy to cool completely, then break it into whatever sized pieces you desire

"Molten Sugar, avec Digital Thermometer Probe"