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}
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.
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.
Why did my peanut brittle turn out chewy? The likely cause is that the sugar mixture didn't reach the proper hard crack stage temperature. Ensuring it reaches 300˚F is key to getting that classic brittle texture.
It's what's missing — corn syrup. A common brittle ingredient, Asare said, corn syrup causes brittle to go all gooey, gummy and tooth-clingy as it melts in your mouth, whereas sugar crunches, crumbles and dissolves.
Why didn't my homemade peanut brittle get hard? Same answer as the question above. If your peanut brittle is not hardening, it's because the sugar mixture did not get hot enough to properly caramelize, cool and become hard, crisp and crunchy.
So, I Googled Salvaging Undercooked Peanut Brittle and followed Tiffany's helpful instructions to throw the pieces back in the pan, turn the heat up and stir, stir, and stir to a raging boil and wait to pour it in the pan until it reaches 300 degrees.
Peanut brittle has one redeeming quality: peanuts. 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.
Store peanut brittle in an airtight container (for best results use wax or parchment paper to divide pieces as they may stick together) in a dry place, but not in the refrigerator. Peanut Brittle will keep up to 2 months.
5. **Old Baking Soda**: Baking soda is added to peanut brittle to produce bubbles, making the brittle lighter and easier to eat. However, if the baking soda is old or not mixed in thoroughly, it can cause streaks or a cloudy appearance. 6.
You will want the cookie sheet to be non-stick. Use parchment paper, a silicone baking sheet or a greased cookie sheet. Spread the peanut brittle as thin as you can. Immediately add your sea salt.
I've learned that brittle is better when made on a cool, dry day. When I've made the candy on a warmer, humid day, it tends to be a stickier brittle. This is because the brittle takes longer to cool, and it reaches a point where it is no longer evaporating moisture into the air.
Not spreading the mixture thinly enough: If the peanut brittle is too thick (usually because you used too small of a pan), it may not cool and harden properly. Be sure to spread the mixture as thinly as possible in the pan. 4. Humidity: Humidity can affect the hardening process of the peanut brittle.
Baking soda helps to aerate brittle — it literally makes the molten candy bubble in the pot — to create a brittle with an airy, almost honeycomblike texture that crunches easily when eaten.
When the baking soda combines with the boiled sugar, it creates Carbon Dioxide that form lots of bubbles and puff the candy up. Once it hardens, the bubbles get trapped inside and create a texture that looks just like a sponge or piece of foam. It's crunchy and sweet, with an almost molasses-like flavor.
Introduction: My name is Jonah Leffler, I am a determined, faithful, outstanding, inexpensive, cheerful, determined, smiling 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.
