My Dad's perfect peanut brittle recipe, refined and perfected over 20 years | Cool Mom Eats (2024)

FAQs

Is peanut brittle good or bad for you? ›

Peanut brittle has one redeeming quality: peanuts. Outside of that single ingredient, peanut brittle is painfully unhealthy. It contains: sugar, corn syrup, and butter, all of which are unhealthy for your body in different ways.

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.

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 is not hardening, it's because the sugar mixture did not get hot enough to properly caramelize, cool and become hard, crisp and crunchy. If you have this issue, next time, use a thermometer to make sure the peanut brittle mixture gets to 300°F.

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.

Water: Water helps the sugar completely dissolve. Salt: A pinch of salt enhances the other flavors. If you opt for salted butter, you can skip this ingredient. Peanuts: Of course, you'll need peanuts for this classic treat!

Why did my peanut brittle turn out chewy? The likely cause is that the sugar mixture didn't reach the proper hard crack stage temperature. Ensuring it reaches 300˚F is key to getting that classic brittle texture.

It is important to coat cookie sheets with butter and put in the freezer to get them really cold before you need to pour the brittle. After you pour the candy you should put the pans in the fridge or outside if it is cold, so the brittle will set up quickly and stay fluffy.

It uses the most basic of ingredients (sugar, corn syrup, and peanuts). 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.

Those other liquid sugars have impurities that will burn at the higher temperature of making caramel, leading to a bitter-tasting brittle.

Can you use parchment paper when making peanut brittle? ›

You will want the cookie sheet to be non-stick. Use parchment paper, a silicone baking sheet or a greased cookie sheet. Spread the peanut brittle as thin as you can. Immediately add your sea salt.

I've learned that brittle is better when made on a cool, dry day. When I've made the candy on a warmer, humid day, it tends to be a stickier brittle. This is because the brittle takes longer to cool, and it reaches a point where it is no longer evaporating moisture into the air.

Peanut brittle contains 714 calories per 147 g serving. This serving contains 28 g of fat, 11 g of protein and 105 g of carbohydrate. The latter is 75 g sugar and 3.7 g of dietary fiber, the rest is complex carbohydrate. Peanut brittle contains 6.1 g of saturated fat and 18 mg of cholesterol per serving.

Peanuts are high in unsaturated fat, mostly monounsaturated fat (the type that is also in olive and rapeseed oil). This means they're high in calories. But they're also a source of fibre, protein and a range of vitamins and minerals.

Peanut Brittle (1 cup) contains 104.7g total carbs, 101g net carbs, 27.9g fat, 11.1g protein, and 714 calories.

Individuals with diabetes need foods that can help manage blood sugar and weight. Peanuts and peanut butter can be a powerful ally to reaching success. Peanuts and peanut butter have a low glycemic index, which means they don't cause blood sugar to rise sharply.