Classic Peanut Brittle

Recall:  Jurassic Park when the mosquitos are stuck in the amber.

Most people I know who actively seek out peanut brittle are older, probably verging on elderly (not you Mom!).  The recipes I've seen are almost always family recipes passed down from a sweet-toothed grandparent, and I realized the other day that I hadn't even had brittle since I was a little kid and my own grandparents were zipping around.  When Joey told me his granddad is enamored of the stuff too, well I turned to the blogs to figure out how to make it so we could hostess-gift it on our trip to North Carolina.  What I ended up with though looked like crumbly drywall and tasted exactly like ocean sand—probably the result of the two unholy tablespoons of salt the recipe blithely called for.

Twirls of brittle instead of blocks!

I've never had much luck with desserts needing caramelization, making everything from inedible sugary concrete to butterscotch pudding that didn't taste a lick like butterscotch.  So like everyone before me, I turned to a classic (Mom) for help, and that classic recommended another classic (The Joy of Cooking), the recipe from which my mother very patiently read to me over the phone, and then reread it frantically, but no less patiently, when I called her on speakerphone 30 minutes later with butter all over my hands, not sure what to do next.  Also she just scanned and emailed it to me.  Moms, brittle, and sweet-toothed grandparents—obviously in cahoots for a classically delicious reason. 

Classic Peanut Brittle

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

2 cups sugar

1 cup golden syrup (available at lots of cooking stores, or corn syrup)

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup cream of tartar

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups peanuts, toasted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Oil a cookie sheet and set aside.

2.  Bring the sugar, syrup, water, and cream of tartar to a boil in a medium, heavy saucepan.  Stir until sugar is dissolved, washing down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water.  Place a warmed candy thermometer in the pan, raise the heat, and heat without stirring to 265 degrees F (the hard ball stage).

3.  Remove from heat, and quickly stir in the butter and baking soda with a wooden spoon.  Return to stove and heat without stirring to 300 degrees F (hard crack stage). Add the peanuts with a silicone spatula until well-coated with the syrup.

4.  Remove from heat and quickly stir in vanilla.  Pour out onto an oiled cookie sheet, spread flat with the rubber spatula, and let stand for about three minutes until cool enough to handle gently.  Loosen the mixture with an offset spatula, and wearing buttered plastic bags as gloves (!!!), pull and stretch the brittle by lifting it with the spatula and pulling it with your gloved hands until it is very thin.  Let cool completely.  Break into small pieces, and store between layers of waxed paper.