Mom's Best Peanut Brittle Recipe - Real Life Dinner (2024)

FAQs

Why didn't my homemade peanut brittle get hard? ›

Didn't get it hot enough. You have to hit hard crack stage heat or it's not going to harden.

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.

Why Is My Peanut Brittle Chewy / Sticky / Didn't Harden? This is a temperature issue. Make sure the candy thermometer reaches exactly 300ºF / 149ºC, which is hard crack stage, before pouring onto baking sheet.

Do this by gently pulling the brittle, working your way around the entire mass. Let the brittle completely cool and then break into pieces. Store in an airtight container or a plastic freezer bag as this will prevent the brittle from becoming sticky and breaking down.

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.

The soda gives a puffy, slightly leavened effect. Which makes the candy crisper and easier to break yet still able to melt in your mouth. Without the soda the candy is harder and has a much different mouth feel.

You'll also want to prepare a baking sheet, with either a silicone mat or parchment paper. The mat/paper will help ensure the peanut brittle doesn't stick directly to pan once it has cooled.

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.

Examples of interfering agents include corn syrup and cream of tartar. A key step in making brittle is heating the syrup to the proper temperature. Typically, this is the hard crack stage or 300° to 310°F.

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. But, peanut brittle becomes terrible for your teeth once all of those ingredients are combined into the final product.

What if my peanut brittle is too dark? ›

Too pale and the candy will not set, too dark and the sugar will have burnt. If you feel the outside edge of the boiling sugar is turning too dark too quickly then you can swirl the pan gently once or twice to even out the boiling sugar mixture but do protect your hands from splashes and again, do not stir.

Buttering the inside of the cooking pan will prevent sugar crystals from sticking to the sides while the corn syrup, water, sugar and butter cook to 275 degrees.

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.

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.

If you're looking for a killer recipe for Peanut Brittle, this is IT! Super crisp yet and addictively crunchy yet not tooth-breakingly so, it's sweet, irresistible and utterly divine!