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Peanut Brittle

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By Betty Crocker Kitchens
Updated Dec 16, 2020
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If you’d like to try making your own candy, this easy peanut brittle recipe is a perfect place to start. While “brittle” is the term for any combination of sugar and water that’s heated to the hard crack stage and cooled, it’s the addition of salty peanuts that makes this homemade peanut brittle recipe so addictively delicious.

More About This Recipe

  • Was the invention of peanut brittle just one of those happy kitchen accidents? We’ll probably never know, but some food historians are partial to the story that it was invented in 1890 by a southern woman who was trying to make peanut taffy, but mistakenly added baking soda instead of cream of tartar to her recipe. Instead of stringy, chewy taffy, she ended up with crunchy, nutty brittle, and she decided to replicate her “mistake” as her own version of a peanut brittle recipe. Whether or not you believe this story, you’ll have to admit that, accident or not, brittle is a delicious confection. While the peanut version is most popular in North American, the combination of sweet candy and salty nuts is enjoyed around the world. It’s known as pasteli in Greece, croquant in France and gachak or chikki in India. If you’re truly a peanut brittle fanatic, mark your calendar for January 26, which is National Peanut Brittle Day. And if you’d like to find more salty, sweet, crunchy and irresistible snacks, check out Betty's best snack recipes.

Peanut Brittle

  • Prep Time 15 min
  • Total 1 hr 45 min
  • Servings 72
  • Ingredients 8
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Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 pound shelled unroasted peanuts

Instructions

  • Step 
    1
    Heat oven to 200°F. Butter 2 cookie sheets, 15 1/2x12 inches, and keep warm in oven. Mix baking soda, 1 teaspoon water and the vanilla; reserve.
  • Step 
    2
    Mix sugar, 1 cup water and the corn syrup in 3-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, to 240°F on candy thermometer or until small amount of syrup dropped into very cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from water.
  • Step 
    3
    Stir in butter and peanuts. Cook, stirring constantly, to 300°F or until small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard, brittle threads. (Watch carefully so mixture does not burn.) Immediately remove from heat. Quickly stir in baking soda mixture until light and foamy.
  • Step 
    4
    Pour half the candy mixture onto each cookie sheet; quickly spread about 1/4 inch thick. Cool completely, at least 1 hour. Break into pieces. Store in covered container.

Nutrition

80 Calories
4 g Total Fat
2 g Protein
9 g Total Carbohydrate

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving
Calories
80
Calories from Fat
35
Total Fat
4 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Cholesterol
0mg
Sodium
35 mg
Potassium
40 mg
Total Carbohydrate
9 g
Dietary Fiber
0g
Protein
2 g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
0%
0%
Vitamin C
0%
0%
Calcium
0%
0%
Iron
0%
0%
Exchanges:
1/2 Starch; 1/2 Fat;
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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