Easy Pecan Brittle Recipe - CopyKat Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is pecan brittle made of? ›

In a nonstick saucepan, heat and stir sugar, corn syrup, water and salt over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Over high heat, using a candy thermometer, cook sugar mixture to a hard crack stage (290 °F). Add pecans and butter and cook to 300 °F stirring all the time to keep the nuts from burning.

In theory, it's a good idea, the baking soda adds some air to the caramelized sugar, making the sheets of candy more brittle, but it also introduces a minerally, metallic taste that's off putting to say the least. My version of peanut brittle is ridiculously simple to make, and leaves out the baking soda.

Why is it too hard? Using baking soda usually prevents peanut brittle from being too, well, brittle. However, if you cook the candy past the set temperature or overwork the candy once you spread it out onto the cookie sheet, that can cause it to become very hard and difficult to bite through.

To store: Once it's completely cooled, store peanut brittle 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.

Brittleness describes the property of a material that fractures when subjected to stress but has a little tendency to deform before rupture. Brittle materials are characterized by little deformation, poor capacity to resist impact and vibration of load, high compressive strength, and low tensile strength.

Store the brittle in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month to maintain the crisp. Moisture in the refrigerator would soften the brittle.

Without glucose syrup, the peanut brittle will recrystallize and develop a crumbly, gritty texture. Read more about corn syrup below. Peanuts: Use the raw, blanched peanuts. They cook in the syrup and will develop plenty of roasted, nutty caramelized flavor from the candy making process itself.

What Makes it Brittle? The sugar will be cooked to 300ºF (149ºC)—hard crack stage; which when set up would be hard like a lollipop.

Brittles are typically composed mostly of sugar, while toffees contain a fair amount of butter and in some cases milk. This makes toffees fuller and richer in taste, while brittles are more purely sweet and sugary. Brittles are also much thinner than most toffees.

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 is my peanut brittle like taffy? ›

Didn't get it hot enough. You have to hit hard crack stage heat or it's not going to harden. From internet: Hard-Crack Stage is a cooking term meaning that a sugar syrup being heated has reached 149 – 154 C (300 – 310 F.) It is a test of how hot a sugar syrup is, and of how much water is left in it.

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.

Absolutely! If you want to extend the life of your peanut brittle, you can freeze it. But, make sure it is completely cooled, as moisture is an enemy of peanut brittle. Ensure the brittle pieces are separated by parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together.

Snap candy into pieces and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

To accomplish this, spread a layer of wax paper along the bottom of your airtight container. Then add a layer of brittle, ensuring there is a bit of space between each piece. Next, add a second layer of wax paper and a second layer of brittle. Repeat the process until all your brittle is properly stored.

Brittle is a kind of smooth, crisp candy made by stirring toasted nuts into a sugar mixture cooked to the hard crack or caramel stage, then turned out onto an oiled surface to cool. Peanut brittle is the most popular type of brittle.

The praline is a southern tradition, commonly made with sugar, corn syrup, milk, butter, and pecan halves. It's a confection with a history as rich as its flavor.

Pralines have a lot in common with nut brittle, with the difference being mostly in the addition of cream and the cooking temperature––the sugary syrup used to coat pralines is heated to a soft-ball consistency, a lower temperature than the hard-crack stage of peanut brittle.

It only calls for 3 ingredients – vanilla wafer cookies, pecans, and sweetened condensed milk – but quickly and easily creates a delicious, no-bake pecan log. For even more flavor, you can toast your pecans in a 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes before chopping and adding to the recipe.