Peanut Brittle

Along with my fond fudge memories, I've got fond peanut brittle ones. My grandma made it frequently when I was a kid, and I seem to always associate it with Christmas. Peanut brittle is another one of those treats that intimidated me (like fudge) because of it's candy nature. Soft-ball, hard-ball.. aah!! Plus, my mom always talked about how too much humidity could prevent it from hardening.. Needless to say, it was a great act of courage for me to attempt this recipe. And you know what? Acts of courage are great, except this particular one has resulted in my eating waaaay too much peanut brittle. Seriously, I can't stop. I have a problem.

There's a good chance this is my great-grandma's recipe. I'll have to find out. It's definitely the one my mom has always used.


Note: this (or other hard candies) should not be made on really humid or rainy days (so sayeth Mama Sarah's mama.)

Peanut Brittle

• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light Karo syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups raw peanuts
• 1 tsp baking soda

Line a baking sheet with foil.

Combine sugar, Karo, water, salt, and peanuts in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. (I finally have a wooden spoon!! Christmas present from hubby)

Cook about 10 to 15 minutes. Mom says to cook until it smells slightly scorched. I'm not quite comfortable with my familiarity with that smell, so I instead decided to do the hard-ball test. To do this, simply have a cup of really cold water nearby. Every-so-often drip a bit of the mixture into the water. You're finished when the mixture hardens into strands within the water. It's supercool.

Once you've reached this stage, remove from heat. Quickly stir in the baking soda; the mixture will bubble and thicken. It'll also look a funny, lighter color. Don't worry.

Quickly spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish. To the best of your ability, spread the the mixture across the pan, creating an even, thin consistency.

Let cool and set. Once it's hard, break it into pieces. Be careful; hubby got stabbed by a sharp corner of candy goodness.

Consume. Apologize to your teeth. Eat another piece. Makes excellent breakfast.