I am sharing with you truly the best recipe for Peanut Brittle. This recipe has been made by tons of RecipeGirl readers, and it has gotten the best positive reviews over the years. Watch the short video showing you how to make peanut brittle, then scroll to the bottom and print out the recipe so you can make it at home!
Everyone loves to make it for the holidays. Who doesn’t love peanut brittle??
Why do kids grow up so quickly? I can hardly stand it. I stare at my boy and gaze at how handsome he has become. I marvel at the adult conversations we have. I admire his intelligence and his ability to navigate the world already.
My baby boy was 2, and all of a sudden he’s 10, and in a matter of months he’ll be turning 11. Pretty soon the darn kid will be off to college. And then I’ll have to mail him treats like this peanut brittle.
We’ve always said that we’re “not a nut family,” but my boys like their peanut brittle. You could buy it in a package, already made… or you could make it yourself. All you need is a candy thermometer and a handful of ingredients. It may or may not be tricky.
Just relax and follow the directions, and you should have some homemade peanut brittle in about a half hour.
How to Make Peanut Brittle:
It starts simply enough with sugar and water and corn syrup.
Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan, being careful just to dip the thermometer into the liquid and not shoving it to the bottom of the pan where it will get a false reading.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Watch the thermometer and add in the peanuts when it reaches 245 degrees F. Continue to stir and cook the mixture until the temperature reaches 300 degrees F.
Add the baking soda and continue to cook a couple more minutes until the mixture turns a golden brown.
There it is: golden brown!
Pour it onto a greased baking sheet, and let it sit until completely cooled and hardened.
Once cooled, jiggle a spatula underneath the peanut brittle and you should be able to lift up the whole slab and just break it apart into pieces.
This is the fun part! It should break apart nicely into pieces, but you can certainly eat the bits that get left behind… you know, for sampling!
It’s ready to serve and eat at this point. If you’re saving it for later, be sure to keep it in a tightly covered container. Humidity can greatly affect the texture of candy. Keep it tightly covered (I keep mine in a tupperware bowl) and your peanut brittle should stay nice and crunchy.
I’m hoping that next year goes more slowly… so I can take time to enjoy my (not so little) boy and the changes in him that I see almost daily. I’m just glad my boy still wants to snuggle with his Mama, share stories… and eat my peanut brittle.
Here are a few more homemade candy recipes you might enjoy:
Peanut Brittle
Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated white sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 2 cups raw or roasted and salted peanuts
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (if you use raw peanuts)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Spray a rimmed cookie sheet with nonstick spray.
- Combine sugar, water and syrup in a medium-large saucepan. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and cook at medium heat slowly to the soft ball stage (245 degrees F. on a candy thermometer), stirring gently every so often. Add 2 cups of peanuts and salt (if using). Continue to cook and stir until the thermometer registers 300 degrees F. Add baking soda. Stir to blend and continue to cook until golden brown (just a minute or so more). Remove from heat and stir to combine.
- Pour the hot mixture onto the prepared pan and spread it out as much as you can with a wooden spoon. Cool completely, and then break into pieces.
Notes
- *Keep your peanut brittle in a tightly covered container until you are ready to serve/eat it. The texture of candy can be greatly affected by the humidity in the air.
- *If you are using a candy thermometer that clips to the side, just make sure that the bottom of the thermometer is resting inside the liquid and not pushed all the way to the bottom of the pan (you'll get a false reading if it's touching the bottom of the pan where the heat source is strongest).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This may need to be adjusted for altitude.
I would like to mail these to my family for Christmas. Do you know how long it lasts? Thank you.
should be fine for a week or two in a covered container.
I’ve already made eight batches using this recipe. Love it and so does everyone else. Learned early that heat too high will start burning before it reaches 300. Heat too low won’t get to temperature. Definitely need to find the temperature sweet spot on your stove. Don’t be afraid to let it brown a little longer as it does add more flavor.
Silly me printed out the instructions and started cooking away When it came to adding the peanuts the written instructions didn’t say to continue stirring so I did not and ended up with really hard peanut brittle that I had to throw away. It took forever to get it up to 245 and then up to 300 degrees. Sorry recipe was a miss for me.
Can you use parchment paper on the bottom of the pan to pour the mixture on & spread it? I have Teflon pans & some are quite worn & I didn’t want the coating to peel off on the peanut brittle.
Yes, but I would suggest lightly spraying the parchment with nonstick spray just to be sure there won’t be any sticking!
Followed the recipe to the letter, but it burnt way before it hit 300 degrees. Leaving it on a medium-high heat, the temp. wouldn’t budge off 217, so moved it to another eye and cranked it up. It burnt at about 270. Any suggestions?
I’m sorry you had trouble. Candy making can be tricky. Maybe cranking it up is where things went wrong. It’s hard to pinpoint, sorry!
I tried this peanut brittle recipe and it came out perfectly.
My dad always loves thin peanut brittle, if I use a bigger cookie sheet, will it be thinner??
You can try! Also, just try to spread it as quickly as possible before it hardens.
try preheating the pan you pour it into, it will help stay pliable longer to spread it
Looks amazing, I was just curious instead of peanuts, can almond be substituted?
Yes, but I also have a recipe for Almond Brittle: https://www.recipegirl.com/almond-brittle/
Mexican vanilla adds flavor to the peanutbrittle. I don’t use candy thermometer. Cast iron skillet is what I use. Its 100 years old. Wood spoon I use
I go by smell and sight. I freeze my butter coated pizza pan. It sets up very nicely.