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

#5 - Overall, eliminate opportunities for moisture

Whether it's during the cooking, cooling, or storage process, moisture and humidity can ruin the best batch of brittle in minutes, leaving you with a soggy, sticky mess. This is why eliminating moisture anywhere you can is our top tip on how to store peanut brittle.

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.

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.

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.

The secret is in the baking soda. 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.

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? ›

Grittiness can happen when a stray sugar crystal doesn't melt properly or is introduced while the caramel is cooking. The stray crystal causes the surrounding sugar to crystallize, resulting in that gritty texture once the caramel has cooled.

What's important to know is that the corn syrup controls the grain of the brittle so adding too little and you have a grainy textured brittle, while adding too much will result in a stringy and sticky brittle. To start this Peanut Brittle, the water, corn syrup, sugar, raw peanuts, and salt are brought to a boil.

Package up broken peanut brittle in cookie tins or wrapped up in candy cellophane for gifting during the holidays. Or large covered mason or French canning jars are nice, as they are reusable and keep out moisture, which can make any candy sticky.

Why is peanut brittle brown? The Maillard reactions between the milk proteins and sugar. The peanuts are brown.

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.