new holiday recipe? check!

Sunday, December 12, 2010 |

This autumn has been interesting. I’ve changed jobs, had a blog hiccup, and have a lot of unanswered email in my inbox. On the flip side, I’ve cultivated friendships, read some amazing books and made a triumphant return to cooking. But I’ve known for a while that it wouldn’t be in my budget to get gifts for everyone on my list. Instead, I resolved to go the baked goods route for those lovely friends.


I’ve made up little confectioner’s bags of Christmas Fudge and this new (to me) recipe of Peanut Walnut Brittle – and I have to say that they’ll be perfectly sweet holiday treats. In the interest of full disclosure: I was scared to attempt the brittle. I’ve never done candy or anything (aside from fudge) that required a candy thermometer. Luckily, this is a simple, straight-forward recipe. If you have all of the ingredients ready to go beforehand, you should be just fine. At least, I was. Yay!


Peanut Walnut Brittle (adapted from this recipe)


peanut walnut brittle on the right. also in process: peppermint bark!

INGREDIENTS


1 cup white (granulated) sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup water

1 cup nuts (half cup peanuts and half cup walnuts)

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon baking soda


right after we'd poured the brittle into the pan

DIRECTIONS


Grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside.


In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in nuts. Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.


it seemed like there was a lot of butter on the brittle, so i took a paper towel to it

my friend Greta takes a turn breaking up the peanut brittle with a wax paper-covered hammer


Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter and baking soda; pour at once onto cookie sheet. With wooden fork, lift and pull peanut mixture into rectangle about 14x12 inches; cool. Snap candy into pieces.


I tripled this recipe and didn’t have any problems, although I waited a bit longer than the recipe called for to add in the nuts. If you DO triple the recipe, have two cookie sheets ready to go – it’ll fill them right up. OH! And most useful tip ever: have boiling water ready to pour into your cooking pot right after you finish with it. Makes cleanup about a thousand times simpler. Store in an airtight container for up to a month!


Recommended for: a not-too-sweet holiday staple, a versatile snack, and a challenge for anyone who wants to wander on the adventurous side of Christmas baking.

9 comments:

Amy said...

Oooo, the peanut walnut brittle will be getting made this year. I usually stick to cookies, my mom's better at the candy, but this one looks doable. Thanks! Happy Holidays. :)

Anonymous said...

Mmmmm delicious! I plan on making some of this for x-mas this year as well. :)

Ginny Larsen said...

nice! that actually looks easy enough to try :D thanks for sharing... we'll see if i go and get some corn syrup :D

Kim said...

Hey, if you can make fudge, you can make anything! Looks great.

Ryan said...

Looks yummy, I can only handle a little of that stuff though.

Alyce said...

Looks great! It makes me wish I could still eat peanut brittle (too tough on the teeth).

Jenny Girl said...

Oh this looks delicious but I ahev to pass. I need to sew my mouth shut for a while. Hope you has a lovely Christmas :)

vvb32 reads said...

yummy! baking treats are always special during the holiday season. happy birthday!

Tales of Whimsy said...

Oh wow. Sounds splendid :)

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