Peppery Peanut Brittle Food

PEPPERY PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Coat a 15x10x1-in. pan and metal spatula with cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, toss the peanuts, hot pepper sauce and allspice until evenly coated; set aside., In a 2-qt. microwave-safe glass bowl, combine sugar and corn syrup. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 3 minutes; stir. Add peanut mixture; stir until blended., Heat on high 3-4 minutes longer or until mixture turns a light amber color (mixture will be very hot). Stir in butter. Microwave 30 seconds longer. Quickly stir in baking soda and vanilla until mixture foams and becomes light-colored., Immediately pour mixture onto prepared pan and spread as thin as possible with prepared spatula. Cool. Bread into pieces.

PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• In a small bowl combine peanuts, cinnamon, and cayenne. Set aside.
• Brush the inside of a medium sized heavy saucepan with vegetable oil. Add the sugar and water to the saucepan, cook over high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until it comes to a boil. Stop stirring, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Uncover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the sugar is a light amber color. Stir in peanuts. This will greatly reduce the temperature of the sugar so work quickly. Once evenly mixed, pour mixture onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking mat or buttered parchment paper. Using a buttered spatula, spread thin. You will have to work quickly when pouring out and spreading the mixture in the pan. If necessary, in order to achieve single layer of peanuts, top with second sheet pan whose underside has been buttered. Cool completely and then break into pieces.

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.

HOT & SPICY BRITTLE

Steps:

• Mix sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water in 3-quart saucepan. Bring to boil on medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cover. Boil 2 to 3 minutes.
• Uncover; continue boiling until syrup reaches hard-crack stage (295°F). Remove from heat; stir in butter, nuts and pepper sauce.
• Pour mixture onto lightly greased baking sheet; spread out with greased spoon or spatula. Cool completely. Break into pieces. Store in airtight container.

OLD-FASHIONED PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Butter a large baking pan; set aside. Combine peanuts, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Set over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
• Insert a candy thermometer. Continue boiling, without stirring, until temperature registers 295 degrees, about 6 minutes. When sugar begins to brown, stir nuts gently to ensure even cooking. Remove saucepan from heat, and stir in the butter and baking soda; the mixture will begin to foam up, so mix quickly. Pour onto the prepared baking pan.
• As soon as candy is cool enough to handle, use your fingers to stretch the brittle as thinly as possible over the baking pan. Allow the brittle to cool completely, about 45 minutes, then break into bite-size pieces.

CLASSIC PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment and lightly coat with cooking spray. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1 cup water. Bring to a rapid simmer over medium-high and cook until deep golden, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Stir in butter, baking soda, and peanuts (mixture will foam). Stir until mixture is no longer bubbling and caramel is smooth, 1 minute. Transfer to sheet and spread with a lightly greased spatula. Let cool until firm, 15 minutes. Break into pieces.

TWO MINUTE PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Coat a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
• Place the caramels in a bowl, and heat in the microwave for about 2 minutes, or until melted and bubbly. Some microwaves may take longer. Stir in the peanuts, and pour out onto the prepared baking sheet. Press as thinly as you can. Cool completely, then break into pieces.

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).

SPICY PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.
• Also spray a metal spatula (and yes it matters, goo will stick to all others and make it impossible to work with)
• set aside cookie sheet and spatula.
• In a large bowl, mix the peanuts, hot pepper sauce and allspice
• Put sugar and corn syrup into a large glass microwavable bowl.
• Stir mixture - will be very thick but will change when heated.
• Microwave, uncovered on high for 4 minutes.
• stir again.
• add in spicy peanut mixture.
• stir until blended.
• Return to microwave and cook on high 4-5 minutes longer.
• Stir in butter.
• Microwave 45 seconds.
• Very quickly add in baking soda and vanilla and stir. It will foam and the color witl lighten.
• Immediately pour into prepared pan and spread as thin as possible with prepared spatula.
• Cool, break into pieces (put in bag and use hammer to smash is easiest).

CHUNKY PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Butter the bottom and sides of a 15x10x1-in. pan with 1-1/2 teaspoons of butter. Sprinkle with 1 cup peanut butter chips; set aside., In a heavy saucepan, bring sugar, corn syrup, water and remaining butter to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until butter is melted. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 300° (hard-cracked stage)., Remove from the heat; stir in peanuts. Quickly pour onto prepared pan; sprinkle with chocolate chips and remaining peanut butter chips. With a knife, gently swirl softened chips over top of brittle. Cool before breaking into pieces. Store in an airtight container.

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.

HOT CINNAMON PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• In a glass bowl, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, peanuts, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper until thoroughly blended. Microwave on high for 6 minutes. Slowly stir in the butter, and microwave an additional 30 seconds.
• Very carefully remove bowl from the microwave as the contents will be extremely hot. Gently stir in baking soda until mixture becomes light and foamy. Turn batter out onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet, scraping sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Allow brittle to cool for 1 hour, then break into pieces.