I just want to state, for the record, that all the recipes I post have been tested by myself. Which is more than I can say for about half the recipes posted online. If you have a recipe from a cook book vs. a recipe online and don't know which to go with, go with the one in a published cook book.
Recipes posted online don't need to be verified by anyone. I'm not saying people intentionally post bogus recipes but one typo is all it takes to make a wonderful recipe turn sour.
Why am I saying this? Well for one thing, I don't want people to get frustrated if they try a new dish and it comes out bad. It probably isn't that you did something wrong, it might be the recipe. The second reason is because I chose to follow a poorly written peanut brittle recipe that forced me to trash my first batch and start all over. Something that would never had happened if the recipe I followed was a tad bit better written.
So, what went wrong with my peanut brittle? Well, in order to make peanut brittle you have to boil the mixture to 300 degrees. Needless to say, that is very hot. I was stirring my mixture with a plastic spoon, I always use plastic spoons, and was horrified when it started to melt all into the mixture. I felt like an idiot for not thinking ahead that the spoon might melt, but was more upset that the recipe I was following didn't take 2 seconds to say to use a metal or wooden spoon. It really is little things like that that distinguish a well written recipe from a poorly written one.
In the end though, my second batch of peanut brittle turned out really well and was gone before I knew it.
Recipe:
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1/2 cup Light Corn Syrup
- 1/4 tsp. Salt
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1-1/2 cups Unsalted Peanuts
- 2 tbsp. Softened Unsalted Butter
- 1 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1 tbsp. Butter
You will need a candy thermometer to make peanut brittle.
Take the 1 tbsp. Butter and use it to grease a cookie sheet. Set cookie sheet aside. Measure out the Baking Soda and 2 tbsp. Butter and set it aside, ready to use in the future. In a 2 quartz sauce pan, add the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Over medium heat, stir mixture until sugar is dissolved and bring to a boil.
Once your mixture is boiling, set the candy thermometer in place. Make sure the tip of the thermometer is not touching the bottom of the pan or your reading will be inaccurate. Once you reach 200 degrees, stir in the peanuts.
Using a metal or wooden spoon, stir frequently until temperature reaches 300 degrees. You want to stir it frequently so the mixture and peanuts do not burn. Turn the heat up to medium-high or high-low to help you get to 300 degrees which will take a while.
Once you reach 300 degrees, remove from heat and immediately stir in the butter and baking soda that you had set aside. When you add the baking soda, the mixture will foam up. You only need to stir it a little bit. Quickly pour the mixture onto the cookie sheet. You can tilt the cookie sheet to help it spread a little bit but you don't want to take anything and spread it yourself. Doing so will deflate the air bubbles and make less crunchy peanut brittle.
Allow the peanut brittle to cool, about 1 hour, and then snap it into pieces. Enjoy.
Baking Tips:
- You can substitute a little bit of dark corn syrup for the light corn syrup to make the peanut brittle darker.
- When breaking the peanut brittle apart, be careful. The peanut brittle can be a little sharp.
- A lot of recipes call for Karo syrup. Karo is a name brand for corn syrup. If a recipe calls for Karo, you can use any corn syrup.
- You must reach 300 degrees. If you don't, your peanut brittle will not turn out right, which is why having a candy thermometer is so important.
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