Old Fashioned Peanut Brittle

Let the candy making begin!!

My mom always made candy for Christmas. I don't ever remember us having homemade Christmas cookies; although, sometimes we would have a tin of those Swedish butter cookies. That was okay with us because mom made some AWESOME candy! :) After my mother passed away 25 years ago, I took up the Christmas candy making tradition. Luckily, she had shared her recipes with me and I would now like to share them with all of you!

This recipe came from my mom's sister, Aunt Betty. When she first shared the recipe with us, I remember her standing at the stove, stirring the peanut brittle, talking nonstop with a cigarette hanging out of the corner of her mouth! My mom always said that the extra ashes in the peanut brittle is what made Aunt Betty's candy so good! LOL!! It is important to stir constantly once the peanuts have been added in. My grandmother used to complain that her peanut brittle tasted burnt and my mom told her it was because she didn't stir well enough after adding the peanuts in.

Make sure to use a candy thermometer to get the correct consistency and I have also found that a wooden spoon works better than a metal one. When you get all done, you will think that the candy left in the pan will never come off but just take all of your sticky spoons and things, put them in the saucepan, fill it with hot water and let it sit for about 10 minutes and the residue will just melt away.

Peanut Brittle

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup Light Karo corn syrup
1 cup water
2 1/2 cups roasted, salted peanuts
1 teaspoon butter
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Combine sugar, corn syrup and water in a heavy 3-quart saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage. Add the peanuts and cook to the hard crack stage stirring constantly (you can raise the heat a bit, just make sure to stir, stir, stir). Remove from heat and stir in the butter and the baking soda. Pour onto a well buttered 10 x 15-inch cookie sheet and spread to the edges.

 
Let cool completely and then break into bite-sized pieces.

I have never had a problem with my peanut brittle not coming out right, even yesterday when it was raining as I was making it!

Let's see, one down and only five more types of candy to go! I will also be making chocolate fudge with walnuts, maple fudge with pecans, chocolate peanut clusters, chocolate covered bon-bons and chocolate toffee truffles. Next up, I will share the recipe for the bon-bons, my favorite!! :)