Aunt Iras Peanut Brittle Food

PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Measure the vanilla into a small bowl and set aside. Combine the baking soda and salt in another small bowl and set aside. Butter 1 cookie sheet with sides or jelly roll pan liberally with 1/2 stick of the butter. Set aside.
• Combine the sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, attach a candy thermometer and cook over medium-high heat until the syrup spins a thread when poured from a spoon or reaches 240 degrees F on the thermometer. Stir in the peanuts and continue cooking and stirring until the candy becomes golden brown or reaches 300 degrees F.
• Remove from the heat immediately and quickly add the remaining 1 stick butter and the vanilla, baking soda and salt. Stir only until the butter melts, and then quickly pour the brittle onto the cookie sheet, spreading the mixture thinly. When the brittle has completely cooled, break the candy into pieces and store in a tightly covered container.

THE BEST PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and grease with nonstick cooking spray.
• Stir together the sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water in a medium saucepan fitted with a candy/deep-fry thermometer. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then continue to boil until it's golden brown and it reaches 340 degrees F, about 15 minutes.
• Working quickly, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter and baking soda until smooth (it will foam and bubble up). Stir in the peanuts until evenly distributed amongst the sugar mixture.
• Pour onto the prepared baking sheet and quickly smooth with a rubber spatula into a thin and even layer. Let harden uncovered at room temperature until cooled completely. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Line a quarter sheet pan with a Silpat (parchment will not work here).
• Make a dry caramel: Heat the sugar in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. As soon as the sugar starts to melt, use a heatproof spatula to move it constantly around the pan-you want it all to melt and caramelize evenly. Cook and stir, cook and stir, until the caramel is a deep, dark amber, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Once the caramel has reached the target color, remove the pan from the heat and, with the heatproof spatula, stir in the nuts. Make sure the nuts are coated in caramel, then dump the contents of the pan out onto the prepared sheet pan. Spread out as thin and evenly as possible. The caramel will set into a hard-to-move-around brittle mass in less than a minute, so work quickly. Let the brittle cool completely.
• In a zip-top bag break the brittle up into pieces as small as possible with a meat pounder or a heavy rolling pin-we grind our brittle down in the food processor to the size of short-grain rice (you don't want anyone to chip a tooth on it!). Eat or cook with it at will. Store your brittle in an airtight container, and try to use it up within a month.
• hazelnut brittle
• Follow the recipe for peanut brittle, substituting hazelnuts for the peanuts.
• [makes about 250 g (1 3/4 cups)]
• cashew brittle
• Follow the recipe for peanut brittle, substituting 3/4 cup cashews for the peanuts and increasing the sugar to 1 1/2 cups.
• [makes about 375 g (2 1/4 cups)]
• pumpkin seed brittle
• This, obviously, is made from a seed, not a nut, but it works just the same. We use pepitas, or hulled pumpkin seeds. We've tried making them from raw shelled seeds scooped straight from a pumpkin, but to no avail.
• Follow the recipe for peanut brittle, substituting pumpkin seeds for the peanuts. When adding the seeds to the hot caramel, take care, they will "pop" a bit!
• [makes about 250 g (1 3/4 cups)]
• Elsewhere in this book
• Peanut brittle is used in Peanut Butter Crunch (page 185).

PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Coat two 12-by-17-inch baking sheets with vegetable spray.
• In a heavy 5-quart saucepan with lid, combine sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cover pot, and bring to a boil over high heat, about 5 minutes. Dissolve sugar by carefully swirling pot often over burner. Keeping lid on will prevent sugar crystals from forming; however, should crystals form, wash down sides of pot with a wet pastry brush.
• Once steam just begins to escape from pot, remove cover and reduce heat to medium. Insert candy thermometer, and continue to boil until temperature reaches 230 degrees (thread stage), about 1 minute.
• Add peanuts, stirring constantly with a metal spoon until mixture reaches 300 degrees (hard crack stage) and is a rich golden brown, 13 to 18 minutes.
• Immediately remove from heat, and quickly add butter, vanilla, and baking soda. Stir with a metal spoon until butter melts; mixture will become foamy. Pour half of mixture down center of each pan, spreading evenly with a spatula. Allow to cool for at least 1 hour.
• Turn brittle out of pan, and snap it into shards.

QUICK PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Melt the sugar in a medium frying pan over a medium heat for 4-5 mins until caramelised - it should be a dark amber colour. Don't stir, as this causes the sugar to crystallise - instead, tilt the pan slowly so the sugar melts evenly.
• Add the peanuts, stir with a wooden spoon, then quickly and carefully tip onto the prepared tray. Immediately sprinkle over the sea salt flakes and leave to cool until set. Will keep for several weeks in an airtight container.

AUNT IRA'S PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

Steps:

• Cook all ingredients except peanut butter to a soft boil.
• Add peanut butter and beat until blended.
• Pour into 8x8 pan.

ANN'S CRUNCHY PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Mix and set aside the butter and soda.
• In a large pan, mix and boil the sugar, water,and syrup to hardball stage (254 degrees F).
• Add peanuts and stir constantly until mixture turns yellow (NOT AMBER) about 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and add butter mixture and vanilla.
• Pour onto greased cookie sheet.
• Pat into a thickness you like with the back of a spoon.
• Cool and break into pieces.
• Store in airtight container.