One of my favorite treats as a child was peanut brittle at Christmas time. It is very easy to make. You can use different kinds of peanuts and different peanut flavor roasts (like honey roasted) in your brittle for variety. My favorite is to use different flavors of roasted peanuts. In this recipe, I used honey roasted peanuts. My mom’s favorite kind was to use red skin roasted peanuts. You can really get creative with the type of peanuts you use in your brittle. If you want a basic traditional peanut brittle, just use the lightly salted roasted peanuts. My mom never used baking soda in her brittle, and it was a bit of a jaw breaker. I have only recently discovered the wonderful little bubbles the baking soda makes in the brittle. I was so happy to discover this little trick, eating peanut brittle doesn’t make me feel like I am going to break a molar anymore.
Yield: Serves 4
cooking spray
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cups roasted peanuts of any variety, honey roasted and redskins are very delicious
1 teaspoon baking soda
Spray a 10 X 15 inch backing sheet and set aside
Combine corn syrup, sugar, water, and butter in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil.
Continue to boil over medium heat until the mixture comes to 280 degrees.
When the mixture has reached temperature, stir in the peanuts and continue to cook until the mixture has reached 300 degrees.
When the mixture reaches 300 degrees, remove from heat and stir in the baking soda. Everything will bubble up and turn cloudy.
Immediately pour this mixture onto the cookie sheet. Try to spread it out a bit by pouring it around the sheet, instead of pouring the mixture all out in the middle of the pan.
Let the peanut brittle cool. Then break in pieces to serve.