Peanut Brittle

It's become a tradition in our family that every Birthday, Father's Day and Christmas, someone gives dad peanut brittle. He loves it. Usually, said peanut brittle comes from the home of dad delights - Darrel Lea. This year, being the kitchen explorer I am, I thought I would have a go at making it myself. It wasn't too tricky and I think it turned out rather well.

The first step is to line an oven tray with baking paper and grease it up with butter. You will also need to grease a spatula.

Place sugar, salt and corn syrup in a saucepan with water.

Bring to the boil over medium heat  and keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Brush the sides with a wet pastry brush to stop crystals from forming. Cook the mixture, swirling the pan regularly, until it reaches soft ball stage. If you have a candy thermometer (I don't), you're aiming for 102 degrees Celsius.

Now it's time to add the nuts. I wanted peanut brittle so obviously peanuts were my nut of choice. Stir them in and continue to stir until the mixture is medium amber. Here's the progression...

Carefully stir in the baking soda and vanilla.

The mixture will froth a bit.

Working quickly, pour the mixture into the prepared pan.

Spread it out with the greased spatula. Leave it until it's completely cool.

Break your brittle into pieces and store in an airtight container for up to one month. Enjoy!

Recipe

Peanut Brittle

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Author: Claire Cameron - Claire K Creations

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Ingredients

• Unsalted butter softened, for baking sheet
• Vegetable oil for spatula
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ½ cup light corn syrup aka glucose syrup - that's what I used anyway!
• Pinch of salt
• 2 ½ cups unsalted nuts such as dry-roasted peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts, almonds or pecans, or toasted pumpkin seeds
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

• Brush a 9-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet with butter, and oil an offset spatula; set aside. I used my oven tray covered in baking paper.
• Put sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a medium saucepan with ¼ cup cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Wash down sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming.
• Cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the mixture registers 238C/460F degrees on a candy thermometer (soft-ball stage). To test this, drop a little mixture into a glass of cold water and then take it out with a spoon. If it's solid but soft (I hope that makes sense!), it's ready.
• Stir in nuts, and continue to cook, stirring often so that the nuts do not burn, until the mixture is medium amber in color, 10 to 15 minutes. Carefully stir in vanilla and baking soda (the mixture will foam up). I took mine off the heat before I did this.
• Pour onto prepared baking sheet, and using oiled spatula, quickly spread into a ½-inch-thick layer. Let cool completely.
• Break brittle into pieces if desired; store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 month.

I found this recipe on Marthastewart.com.

Have you made this recipe? I'd love to hear what you think. Tag me on Instagram @clairekcreations