Home › Recipe List › Candy › Peanut Brittle Recipe
Posted by Aimee41 comments Published: Jun 16, 2022Last Updated: Jun 16, 2022
Jump to Recipe
Easy, delicious Microwave Peanut Brittle recipe ready in 10 minutes! Old fashioned candy made with simple ingredients in the microwave or on the stove top.
We love old fashioned candy recipes. Try our salted nut roll or almond bars for a delicious treat. Or learn how to make fudge with our tips and tricks!
Table of Contents
Why this Candy is Best
Ingredient Notes
Tips and Tricks
Make Peanut Brittle on the Stove Top
Recipe FAQs
More Easy Candy Recipes
Microwave Peanut Brittle Recipe
Why this Candy is Best
Making homemade candy doesn’t have to be hard.
Peanut brittle is a similar to toffee with peanuts. Whether you’re looking for a simple Christmas candy to share, or a dessert for your family you’ve got to try our peanut brittle.
Made with simple ingredients.
Stays crunchy for weeks.
Perfect to give as gifts for the holidays.
Can be made in the microwave in minutes, or on the stove top!
Broken pieces of peanut brittle are delicious on our homemade vanilla ice cream too!
Try our homemade kit kat recipe next!
Ingredient Notes
Dry roasted peanuts– we prefer the lightly salted variety. But you can swap them out for cashews and make cashew brittle too!
Corn Syrup– adds sweetness and ensures that the texture of the candy does not turn grainy.
Baking soda– adds air bubbles to the brittle, creating the perfect texture!
PRO TIP- We love making our own homemade vanilla extract, but if using store bought, be sure it’s pure extract, not imitation (for best flavor).
Tips and Tricks
The bowl gets very hot. You’ll see I recommend using hot pads. Learn from my mistake and always use them.
Finally, clean up. The brittle hardens in the glass bowl very quickly. Fill with HOT water and allow to soak until you can scrub it off.
Store peanut brittle in an airtight container (or ziploc bag) at room temperature for up to three weeks. We prefer not to freeze brittle as it changes the texture and makes it chewy not crunchy.
Make Peanut Brittle on the Stove Top
Yes, you can also make this on the stove top if you prefer.
Line your baking sheet with parchment paper like above.
Using a heavy 2 quart saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil the sugar, corn syrup, and add 1/4 cup water.
Stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture is boiling. Reduce heat to medium.
Stir in peanuts. Set a candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.
Remove from heat and immediately stir in butter, vanilla, and baking soda. Pour onto baking sheet and spread to desired thickness. Break into pieces when completely cooled.
Recipe FAQs
Why is my peanut brittle not crunchy?
Peanut brittle may not get to the crunchy state if it’s not cooked long enough or the baking soda was not added. Also be sure when storing there is no moisture in the container.
If your brittle gets stuck in the bowl, add water to the bowl and microwave for 1-2 minutes. This will help soften the brittle so you can scrub it off.
What does baking powder do to brittle?
Adding baking powder to the peanut brittle is key to releasing tiny air bubbles into the candy. This helps create the perfect texture.
More Easy Candy Recipes
If you love Caramel deLites or Samoa Girl Scout Cookies, then these easySamoa Trufflesare going to drive your taste buds crazy!
Rich, decadent, copycatFannie May Fudge. It’s the perfect chocolate fudge recipe for any time of year, no candy thermometer needed!
If you’ve never triedSaltine Toffee, now is the time! Crispy, buttery toffee with crackers, pecans and chocolate. So easy to make, too!
Looking for the easiest fudge recipe? Today’sEasy Rocky Road Fudgeis your answer. And it’s absolutely delicious too!
Nobody will guess that this sweet toffee starts with graham crackers.Brickle Barsare the next best thing to homemade candy!
Easy, delicious Microwave Peanut Brittle recipe ready in 10 minutes! Old fashioned candy made with simple ingredients in the microwave or on the stove top.
Lay a piece of parchment paper over a large cookie sheet. Set aside.
Combine sugar and corn syrup in a 2qt. glass bowl. Microwave (on power level 7) for 4 minutes. {I use a 1500watt microwave}
Remove and stir in peanuts quickly using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Return to microwave and heat for 3 ½ minutes (on power level 7).
Remove and stir in butter and vanilla extract. Return to microwave for an additional 1 ½ minutes (on power level 7).
Remove and stir in baking soda, mixing until light and foamy. Pour over parchment paper and spread to desired thickness, working quickly.
Allow peanut brittle to set and harden at room temperature (about 2 hours). Break into desired sized pieces and store in an airtight container for up to one week.
Notes
The bowl gets very hot. You'll see I recommend using hot pads. Learn from my mistake and always use them.
Finally, clean up. The brittle hardens in the glass bowl very quickly. Fill with HOT water and allow to soak until you can scrub it off.
Store peanut brittle in an airtight container (or ziploc bag) at room temperature for up to three weeks. We prefer not to freeze brittle as it changes the texture and makes it chewy not crunchy.
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. The sugar needs to be cooked to what is called the hard crack stage, 300ºF.
If your peanut brittle reached 311°F but is a pale milky color, it's likely the candy cooked too quickly. It reached the correct temperature but didn't cook long enough to undergo sufficient Maillard reactions and develop the characteristic brown color and rich, roasted flavor. Next time, cook at a lower temperature.
Baking soda is also very important at this stage since it reacts to the heat, creating carbon dioxide that aerates the caramel, enabling it to snap when someone bites into it rather than requiring them to gnaw at it until it breaks or pulls apart.
Keeping air out helps maintain your brittle's freshness by minimizing the amount of moisture that might come into contact with your sweet treat. In terms of material for your containers, it is totally up to your preference.
What Makes it Brittle? The sugar will be cooked to 300ºF (149ºC)—hard crack stage; which when set up would be hard like a lollipop. But peanut brittle is delicate and you can easily bite into it—how? The secret is in the baking soda.
If you do NOT have a thermometer, here's what you do. Take a very small cup of cold water and drop a bit of the mixture in.If it dissolves into the water, it's not ready. Mine took 18 minutes to reach the correct temperature, so around 15 minutes start trying the water test.
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.
Reviving stale peanut brittle is possible to some extent. You can try placing the stale peanut brittle on a baking sheet and gently heating it in an oven at a low temperature, around 250°F (120°C), for a few minutes.
History. The combination is believed to have developed in the South during the 1920s, as a snack for blue-collar workers that did not require them to wash their hands. It quickly became popular as a summer snack, especially in rural areas. The snack became an internet trend in 2018.
Place a piece of parchment paper over the hot brittle and use a rolling pin to roll the peanut brittle into a 3/8-inch thick flat layer. Use a sharp chef's knife to partially cut the brittle while it is still warm. Allow it to cool completely before coating it with chocolate.
To store: Store peanut brittle (once it's completely cooled) 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.
I don't recommend substituting honey, molasses, or agave for the corn syrup. Those other liquid sugars have impurities that will burn at the higher temperature of making caramel, leading to a bitter-tasting brittle.
Using buttered metal spatula or 2 forks, gently spread and stretch brittle to thin layer.Allow to cool completely.Break brittle into pieces and store in airtight container.
When candy cools slowly on a stone slab, more crystals have a chance to form. With a higher number of micro-crystals, the sugar has more sites on which to crystallize, and so crystallization ultimately happens faster.
Put it in a pan on low heat and very slowly melt it.Once it begins to melt you can increase the heat a bit. The trick to this is that you have to stir it constantly in order to keep the peanuts from burning. You're going to want to bring it back to 300F, then immediately pour into the prepared pan.
What's important to know is that the corn syrup controls the grain of the brittle so adding too little and you have a grainy textured brittle, while adding too much will result in a stringy and sticky brittle.
Dried peanuts may require boiling up to 24 hours until they soften. If your water is hard, full of minerals, or you are boiling at high altitude, then your boiling times for dried peanuts may be greater than 24 hours.
How long does it take for peanut brittle to harden? This microwave peanut brittle starts to harden almost immediately once you finish cooking it and stirring in the baking soda. It will be completely hardened and ready to break into pieces in just 30 minutes.
Introduction: My name is Mr. See Jast, I am a open, jolly, gorgeous, courageous, inexpensive, friendly, homely person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.