The Davenport Soft Peanut Brittle Recipe - Krista Gilbert (2024)

FAQs

Why do you put baking soda in 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.

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.

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.

The general origin story of peanut brittle is that it came from the South, and that a Southern woman in the second half of the 19th century came up with peanut brittle by accidentally putting baking soda into her taffy instead of cream of tartar.

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.

It should come as no surprise that storing your peanut brittle in airtight containers is one of the best ways to store peanut brittle. Keeping air out helps maintain your brittle's freshness by minimizing the amount of moisture that might come into contact with your sweet treat.

QUICKLY POUR ON A COOKIE SHEET/JELLY ROLL PAN.

You will want the cookie sheet to be non-stick. Use parchment paper, a silicone baking sheet or a greased cookie sheet. Spread the peanut brittle as thin as you can. Immediately add your sea salt.

Drop some of the peanuts into the cold water again. If they come out hard and look like brittle, then it's ready! Immediately take off the heat and stir in the baking soda mixture we made earlier.

Cooling down too quickly can prevent the candy from becoming hard. When candy cools slowly on a stone slab, more crystals have a chance to form. With a higher number of micro-crystals, the sugar has more sites on which to crystallize, and so crystallization ultimately happens faster.

Peanut brittle has one redeeming quality: peanuts. 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.

Why do you put water in peanut brittle? ›

Water: Water helps the sugar completely dissolve. Salt: A pinch of salt enhances the other flavors. If you opt for salted butter, you can skip this ingredient. Peanuts: Of course, you'll need peanuts for this classic treat!

Too pale and the candy will not set, too dark and the sugar will have burnt. If you feel the outside edge of the boiling sugar is turning too dark too quickly then you can swirl the pan gently once or twice to even out the boiling sugar mixture but do protect your hands from splashes and again, do not stir.

Peanut brittle is beloved by many, both young and old. There's something addicting in that salty-sweet crunch that keeps people coming back time and time again.

In parts of the Middle East, brittle is made with pistachios, while many Asian countries use sesame seeds and peanuts. “Brittle,” a flat hardened sugar candy, is thought to be one of the first candies ever made. Peanut brittle made with corn syrups and nuts began appearing in cookbooks around the 19th century.

In the vast realm of sweet treats, few can rival the satisfying crunch of brittle. This delectable confection is a harmonious blend of sugar, nuts, and magic that has captivated taste buds around the world for centuries.

When the candy mixture is not mixed to the right temperature, or you forget to add the baking soda, then you might end up with something more chewy than brittle. Or worse, you just burn everything and have to start all over.

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. It's crunchy and sweet, with an almost molasses-like flavor.

There is absolutely no need to add the juice of the calamansi. It's purpose is purely to impart flavor. The purpose of baking soda is to make the candy mixture 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. Typically, this is the hard crack stage or 300° to 310°F.