Old-Fashioned Peanut Brittle Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why do you add baking soda to peanut brittle? ›

The secret is in the baking soda. As the sugar is cooking and begins turning amber in color it accumulates small amounts of acid, and that acid reacts chemically with the alkaline baking soda releasing about a zillion minuscule bubbles of CO₂ that get trapped, making the sugar porous and, well… brittle.

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.

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.

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.

The soda gives a puffy, slightly leavened effect. Which makes the candy crisper and easier to break yet still able to melt in your mouth. Without the soda the candy is harder and has a much different mouth feel.

Once your peanut brittle has fully cooled and set, break it into pieces and store in an airtight container. It's best kept at room temperature in a cool, dry place, away from any moisture. Brittle loves to soak up moisture, making it chewy. If you notice it getting sticky, it's likely exposed to too much humidity.

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.

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.

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.

Why is my peanut brittle greasy? ›

Many recipes call for buttering a foil-lined baking sheet, which can result in a tasty but greasy brittle. That is, unless you missed a spot while buttering.

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.

In summary, the purpose of adding baking soda to dough is to generate carbon dioxide gas, which causes the dough to rise and become light and fluffy. This is important because it makes the dough easier to work with and results in a better texture and flavor in the final baked product.