The Definitive Guide to Peanut Brittle

By Dan McCoy

Golden-brown pieces of homemade peanut brittle on a marble counter with a candy thermometer, a bowl of peanuts, and a saucepan.

Peanut brittle is a temperature problem. 300°F. Then soda. Then the sheet.

How to make peanut brittle

One number: 300°F. Hard crack stage. 300 degrees. The sugar stops bending and starts snapping.

Pull early and you have taffy. Push past amber and it goes bitter. A clip-on candy thermometer is enough.

The core is four ingredients: sugar, corn syrup, peanuts, baking soda. Butter and vanilla extract help. They are not the trick.

Butter the baking sheets, or lay a silicone baking mat or parchment paper, before you light the burner. After the soda goes in, the pot will not wait. An ungreased sheet will take the batch.

Baking soda is the second move. Remove from heat. Last second. The mixture will foam. That foam is gas through the syrup. The sheet comes out light. Skip the soda and you pour a pane of glass.

Corn syrup is not a flavor. It keeps the sugar from turning back into crystals. Grainy brittle usually means the syrup crystallized on the way up.

Sugar at 300°F burns skin. Keep kids back. Pour, spread, then stop.

Old-fashioned peanut brittle recipe

This is the stovetop version. Classic peanut brittle. If you want the best peanut brittle recipe as a full method, this is the one. Homemade peanut brittle starts here.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups raw peanuts
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Method

  1. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in a heavy saucepan.
  2. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring. Then leave it mostly alone until 240°F.
  3. Stir in peanuts. They cook in the pot. Keep stirring so they do not scorch.
  4. Cook until the temperature reaches 300°F. The syrup goes clear, then straw, then amber.
  5. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, then stir in baking soda and vanilla extract. The mixture will foam. That is right.
  6. Immediately pour the hot mixture onto the greased baking sheets. Spread in an even layer with a spatula. Cool completely. Break into pieces.

No thermometer: drop a spoonful into ice water. At 300°F it snaps clean. If it bends, continue cooking.

Easy homemade peanut brittle

Same science. Smaller pot. This is easy peanut brittle for a short afternoon.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 cup roasted salted peanuts
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

  1. Cook sugar and corn syrup over medium heat to 300°F, stirring until the sugar mixture goes deep amber.
  2. Stir in peanuts, then stir in butter, vanilla extract, and baking soda.
  3. Immediately pour. Spread in an even layer.

Roasted peanuts go in late. Raw peanuts need the climb to 300°F. Roasted ones scorch if they sit in the pot the whole way.

That is the easy peanut brittle recipe. Same foam. Less cleanup.

Microwave peanut brittle

Use a large microwave-safe glass bowl. The batch foams. A small bowl spills.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 cup roasted salted peanuts
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

Method

  1. Microwave sugar and corn syrup on high 4 minutes. Stir.
  2. Add the peanuts. Microwave 3 to 4 minutes more, until amber.
  3. Stir in butter, vanilla extract, and baking soda. Pour. Spread.

Microwaves vary. Watch the color, not only the clock. Amber. Not pale. Not dark brown. Do not walk away on the second cook.

Chocolate peanut brittle recipe

Cool the sheet first. Dry to the touch. No flex in the center.

Melt 3 to 4 ounces of dark chocolate. A bowl over a pot of simmering water, or 30-second bursts in the microwave, stirring between. Drizzle the pieces, or dip the edges, and set them on parchment paper.

This is a chocolate peanut brittle recipe at home. A pairing. Not a shop SKU. A bar from a chocolate shop, or from Hill Country Chocolate, is enough. Do not name a product.

Let the chocolate set at room temperature.

Hard crack stage, baking soda, storage

Humidity makes sticky brittle. Sugar pulls water from the air. Pick a dry day. Store the pieces in an airtight container at room temperature. Do not refrigerate. Cold makes condensation. Condensation makes tack. Do not freeze peanut brittle either. Ice turns to water. Water turns the sheet sticky.

Raw Spanish peanuts belong in the old-fashioned pot. They roast on the way to 300°F. Roasted peanuts belong in the easy and microwave batches, late.

Spread in an even layer while it is still liquid. You have about 30 seconds. Thick brittle is a different candy.

When it is fully cool, tap it with the back of a wooden spoon. Irregular pieces are homemade peanut brittle recipe texture. That is fine.

If the sheet is chewy, you pulled early or the air was wet. If it is bitter, you went past amber. If it is a glass pane, the soda never foamed. Cook again. The next pot is cheap.

The sheet is yours

We make chocolate in Fredericksburg. The brittle is yours.

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