Peanut Brittle Tutorial

It's been a week and I haven't posted this! With sick kids, a teething baby Noah, and getting the cold myself, productivity in the Hellwig household has gone WAY down! I was lucky to get the laundry done!

Anyway, my sister-in-law, Denae, had the brilliant idea the I should send Peanut Brittle to my brother in Afghanistan (surprise!). I thought I'd share the recipe here and show you how to make it. This is something we make every year for Christmas. I'll probably be sending him more next month as well!

This is a wonderful microwave recipe from my Mom. :) Because microwaves are different, it may take you a couple of bad batches before you figure out what works best for your oven. The instructions I'm giving you here are what works best for my oven.

Ingredients:

1 C. Sugar

1/2 C. Light Corn Syrup

1 C. Raw Spanish Peanuts

1/8 Tsp. Salt

1 Tbs. Butter

1 Tsp. Vanilla

1 Tsp. Baking Soda

Stir Sugar, Corn Syrup, Peanuts, and Salt in a GLASS bowl. Micro cook on High 4 min. Stir and cook 3-4 (I do 3 only) more min. or until light brown.

This is what it should look like at this point!

Add Butter to syrup, blending well. Micro cook on High 1 to 1 1/2 min. more (I do 1 min., stir, and then 20 sec. more). Peanuts will be lightly browned and syrup very hot.

This is what it should look like - more golden than brown. If you cook it too long, it will burn!

Add Baking Soda and Vanilla; gently stir until light and foamy.

Like this.

Pour mixture onto lightly greased cookie sheet. If you can see, the one in the front was my first batch. As it cools it gets darker. The one in the back in the fresh batch just poured on. Let cool 30 min.

When cool, break into small pieces and store in an airtight container.

Word of the wise, don't put water in your bowl while it's hot! That's a great way to ruin it (like I did). :(

Enjoy your Peanut Brittle!