Peanut Brittle Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why add baking soda to peanut brittle? ›

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.

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.

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.

If you overcook the brittle, it could be bitter or burnt. If you undercook it, the brittle won't properly set and the end result will be sticky.

History. The combination is believed to have developed in the South during the 1920s, as a snack for blue-collar workers that did not require them to wash their hands. It quickly became popular as a summer snack, especially in rural areas. The snack became an internet trend in 2018.

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.

So, I Googled Salvaging Undercooked Peanut Brittle and followed Tiffany's helpful instructions to throw the pieces back in the pan, turn the heat up and stir, stir, and stir to a raging boil and wait to pour it in the pan until it reaches 300 degrees.

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.

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.

Why did my peanut brittle crystallize? ›

When candy cools slowly on a stone slab, more crystals have a chance to form. With a higher number of micro-crystals, the sugar has more sites on which to crystallize, and so crystallization ultimately happens faster.

As the sugar is cooking and begins turning amber in color it accumulates small amounts of acid, and that acid reacts chemically with the alkaline baking soda releasing about a zillion minuscule bubbles of CO₂ that get trapped, making the sugar porous and, well… brittle.

Take a very small cup of cold water and drop a bit of the mixture in. If it dissolves into the water, it's not ready. Mine took 18 minutes to reach the correct temperature, so around 15 minutes start trying the water test. When it turns into a hard goo in the water upon being dropped in, then it's ready!

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.

Many recipes call for buttering a foil-lined baking sheet, which can result in a tasty but greasy brittle. That is, unless you missed a spot while buttering. In which case you have peanut-and-foil brittle.

Why do you put baking soda in peanut brittle? In short: the alkaline of the baking soda reacts with the acids of the sugar to creates lots of CO2 bubbles. This interrupts the crystalline structure, making it more delicate and easily cracked…and thus more “brittle”.

When the baking soda combines with the boiled sugar, it creates Carbon Dioxide that form lots of bubbles and puff the candy up. Once it hardens, the bubbles get trapped inside and create a texture that looks just like a sponge or piece of foam.

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.

In summary, the purpose of adding baking soda to dough is to generate carbon dioxide gas, which causes the dough to rise and become light and fluffy. This is important because it makes the dough easier to work with and results in a better texture and flavor in the final baked product.