A Beginner’s Guide to Making Perfect Brittle Peanuts
When it comes to making candy, I prefer pastries that can be made without a pastry thermometer and ideally in the microwave. Haystacks , cheater fudge , lazy caramels and gin balls are some of my favorite treats I can make, eat, and donate, but this year I’m adding a peanut slice to my repertoire (and to my gift boxes).
Peanut brittle is the perfect candy for those looking to build confidence in candy making. The ingredients are cheap, the recipes are short, and the procedure gets used to working with a pot of melted sugar syrup.
I have no original recipe for you. I use this one from Allrecipes and it is perfect. I have some tips on how to use brittle peanuts to pump yourself up and get addicted to candy making, as well as some tips on how to make your very first batch.
All brittle recipes pretty much follow the same format: Boil sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt together until the solutes dissolve, then add some peanuts. Continue cooking and stirring until you get to the “hard cracking stage” (about 300 ℉), then add butter and baking soda to create a slightly whipped texture.
If you’re unfamiliar with the different stages of candy making (or cold water dough), I have great news: Cooking peanuts is a great way to get to know all of this, as you will be aiming for the very last stage of the candy making journey.
When you boil sugar syrup, you remove the water and increase the sugar concentration. A candy with a lot of water and a low sugar content will be soft and pliable (or runny!), While a candy with a little water and a high concentration of sugar will be hard and brittle. (See? This is already starting to make sense.)
How to make a cold water lollipop test
You can detect these stages with a thermometer, but I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the cold water test (which is literally done by adding a small amount of syrup to cold, but not ice-cold water).
It’s nice to have a method for determining the doneness of a candy that’s independent of external equipment (especially if you’re working at high altitudes), and pouring hot, boiling syrup into cold water can help you conquer any fears you might have. deal with hot boiling syrup. (If you are using the thermometer at high altitude and are most comfortable working with the target temperature as a target, subtract 1 ℉ from each indicated temperature for every 500 feet above sea level.)
Let’s go through each step in turn.
Thread step (230 ℉ –235 ℉)
If you bring the syrup to this stage and at this temperature, you get a nice thick syrup that can be poured over with ice cream, fruit or cake. There is still a lot of water around, and if sprinkled with cold water, the syrup forms a loose thread that does not twist along its path, shape, or shape.
Softball scene (235 ℉ -245 ℉)
This is the stage you are aiming for when making soft pralines, fudge or fudge. At this slightly higher temperature, the syrup will retain its shape in cold water, and you will turn it into a soft, pliable ball. Take it out of cold water, however, and it should feel smoother in your (much warmer) hand.
Hard ball scene (245 ℉ -250 ℉)
This is what you need when you make gummy caramels. In cold water, the syrup will form a tight ball, but it will retain its shape when you pull it out and hold it in your hand, where you can squeeze, flatten and roll it into other shapes.
Hardball scene (250 ℉ -265 ℉)
This is where you want to be when you make Divinity, nougat, marshmallows and gummies. The syrup will look thick and viscous if you dip it in cold water, where it turns into a hard ball. Again, the ball will retain its shape after being pulled out, and you can still reshape it, but the ball will be heavier and not so easy to give in to your whims. It can be difficult to tell hard from soft balls if you are new to candy making, so use a thermometer along with this method until you feel it.
Soft burglary stage (270 ℉ -290 ℉)
Finally, we are done with the balls. A soft crackle is what you strive for when you make toffee. The syrup forms flexible threads when sprinkled with cold water, and you should be able to get them out of the water and bend them a little before they break. It will also calm down a little in the pot. Instead of large, air bubbles, you will have smaller, thicker bubbles that hang a little close together.
Hard crack stage (300 ℉ -310 ℉)
Finally, we have reached the last stage, the stage that you want to reach if you are making brittle (or candy, or toffee). This is the easiest step to identify which makes peanuts brittle and such a good recipe for making candy easier. At this point, the syrup will immediately form hard, brittle strands if sprinkled with cold water, and you can break the strands when you catch them (let the strands hang in cold water for a few seconds to avoid scalding yourself).
How to make perfect peanuts brittle
As can be seen from the above, these stages are indicated in temperature ranges and not in exact end points. I have made these peanuts brittle several times already , and each time it came out a little different, although both batches reached the hard crack stage somewhere between 300 and 310.
The difference between batches came down to color, and I realized that I prefer a slightly darker, hotter brittleness, which is a little later than the “lighter” moment that you get at the beginning of the hard crack stage. Pick a recipe and try it a few times using ice water, a thermometer and your eyes, and record the temperature and color of each batch until you find your favorite.
Once you’ve reached the hard crack stage (and the color you want), you need to work pretty quickly to apply the syrup to a silicone baking mat or heavily greased baking sheet. (Don’t try waxed paper – the wax melts and then cools with the candy, making the paper brittle.)
Remove the syrup pan from the heat and add the oil and baking soda. Baking soda decomposes when it is mixed with hot syrup, releasing carbon dioxide, which is trapped by the candy as it cools, giving your brittle its classic slightly aerated texture (this is what sets it apart from lollipop). Pour everything onto a silicone baking mat (or a heavily greased baking tray) and pull out with two forks to form a large rectangle about half an inch thick. Let cool completely, then cover, serve, eat and serve.