This Buttery Peanut Brittle recipe makes a tasty and crunchy homemade peanut butter candy for the holidays! Making peanut brittle is simple and fun, too.
Peanut brittle is a buttery old fashioned candy that everyone loves, especially during the holidays! If you want the perfect sweet treat to snack on or gift to friends/family this holiday season, homemade buttery peanut brittle is a great choice!
Bonus - It doesn't take long to make, either!
If you're looking for other Christmas desserts and candies to make, I have plenty of ideas! Butterscotch Haystacks, Easy Fudge, Caramel Popcorn and Pecan Snowball Cookies are very popular.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It's the perfect sweet and salty snack or dessert. It tastes delicious with a hot cup of coffee, tea, or cider.
- Lasts a long time. Unlike other holiday treats that can go stale quickly, peanut butter brittle lasts for weeks at room temperature!
- An easy homemade gift to share. Make a few batches of brittle and wrap them up in pretty storage containers or cellophane bags. Homemade candy makes a great food gift for neighbors, family, and/or coworkers.
Ingredients
See ingredient substitutions in the next section. ⬇️
To make this easy peanut brittle recipe you'll need:
- light corn syrup
- white granulated sugar
- butter - Both salted and unsalted butter work. If your dry roasted peanuts are salted, you may want to avoid using salted butter.
- peanut butter - Be sure to use a no-stir variety
- baking soda - Be sure to test your baking soda to ensure that it's active. (Instructions shown below)
- vanilla extract
- dry roasted peanuts - Dry roasted peanuts are the best peanuts for brittle because they help give a crunchy texture and slightly salty flavor. To control the sodium, you can roast peanuts at home.
📖 Time-Saving Tip - Testing Baking Soda or Baking Powder for Freshness
This simple little test can save you time and money, because if your leavener is expired, whatever you're baking wont rise in the oven! This test works for baking soda and baking powder:
- Add about ½ teaspoon of baking soda or powder to a small bowl. Stir in an equal amount of an acidic ingredient, like vinegar or citrus juice.
- If the solution doesn't start to bubble immediately, it's time to replace your leavener.
Kitchen Tools For Making Peanut Brittle
You'll need a candy thermometer, a rimmed baking sheet, and some waxed paper or parchment paper.
Substitutions and Recipe Variations
- Corn syrup: You can use dark corn syrup, but the additional molasses in it will affect the flavor and color of your peanut butter brittle.
- Butter: Salted and unsalted butter both work well with this recipe. I don't recommend using plant-based or dairy free butter, but you're welcome to try it!
- White granulated sugar: To cut down on the calories of your peanut butter candy, feel free to use a cup-for-cup granulated sugar substitute. Monkfruit sugar is a good option. Brown sugar will work, but your brittle will have a molasses flavor.
- Peanut butter: This buttery peanut brittle recipe works with crunchy or creamy peanut butter, or any other nut butter.
- Dry roasted peanuts: You can substitute other nuts for the peanuts if you like. Cashews are a delicious option, especially if you use cashew butter instead of peanut butter!
- Vanilla extract - Feel free to substitute vanilla essence for the extract. It's also okay to leave it out.
How to Make Peanut Butter Brittle
Summary only. The complete recipe instructions are in the card at the bottom of this post ⬇️
- Boil the sugar syrup mixture. I highly recommend that you use a candy thermometer for this recipe. It's important to boil the mixture until it reaches at least 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove pan from heat, then stir in the remaining ingredients. Please be careful when you do this, because the candy mixture will be very hot. Also, keep in mind that the baking soda will cause the mixture to quickly bubble up.
- Pour the peanut butter candy mixture onto a sheet pan to cool.
- When peanut brittle is hard and cool to the touch, break into pieces.
Liz's Tips for the Best Candy
- Make sure to thoroughly cook your peanut brittle: You can use a candy thermometer if you want to be sure your peanut brittle is cooked correctly. It needs to be cooked to at least 300°F., but 350°F. is ideal.
- Don't skip the baking soda! Baking soda is the most important ingredient in any brittle recipe. The key to a good brittle is removing as much air from the mixture as possible. Since heating up the corn syrup and sugar creates so many bubbles, baking soda is required to let out as many air bubbles as possible. This will leave you with a lighter texture when you bite into the brittle.
Troubleshooting
Why is my peanut brittle sticking to the pan? If your peanut brittle is sticking to the pan, you probably are not using enough butter. You need to make sure you have enough butter in the pan!
Why is my peanut brittle oily? Peanut brittle can get oily if you use too much butter to grease the pan.
How do you fix soft peanut brittle? If your peanut brittle is too soft, it may be difficult to fix. The best thing to do is break it up, put it in a pan, reheat it, and try it again. Your peanuts may get too soft. Soft peanut brittle can also be the result of too much humidity in the air.
Can you fix undercooked peanut brittle? You can, but it's difficult to fix undercooked peanut brittle. You can try breaking it up and adding it back to a pot and reheating, but it might not work.
Storing Instructions
This buttery peanut brittle has a surprisingly long shelf life compared to other desserts and homemade candies.
Signs of spoiled peanut brittle include a change in texture, an off smell, or a sour taste.
Storage: Store your peanut butter candy in an airtight container or Ziploc bag on the counter for up to two months! You can also store the brittle in the fridge for the same amount of time.
If you live in a particularly hot or humid region, it's best to refrigerate your brittle.
Freezing peanut brittle isn't an option. The candy will take on too much moisture, causing it to become too soft.
Peanut Brittle Recipe FAQs
Baking soda is a very important ingredient in peanut brittle recipes. If you skip the baking soda it can lead to a chewy brittle. Baking soda helps neutralize the air pockets that are created when cooking the candy.
No, peanut brittle isn't really good for you. The main ingredients are butter, sugar and corn syrup. It's a treat best enjoyed in moderation!
It's best to use parchment paper for peanut brittle instead of wax paper. Wax paper can absorb some of the oil and may stick to the bottom of peanut brittle.
It takes peanut brittle about an hour for the candy to set and be cool enough to break into pieces.
If your peanut brittle is soft, it's most likely because the sugar did get hot enough before you took it off the burner. In order to get a peanut brittle that is firm and cracks under pressure, you need to cook the candy to at least 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Other Holiday Candy Recipes
- Butterscotch Haystacks
- Christmas Rice Krispies Treats
- Peppermint Fudge
- Italian Chocolate Cookies (Meatball Cookies)
Creamy Peanut Brittle Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups dry roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Prepare a baking sheet by covering it in parchment paper and spraying it with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the water, corn syrup, and white sugar to a boil while stirring regularly. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until the mixture turns a golden brown color. This will take about 20 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and quickly stir in the butter, peanut butter, baking soda, and vanilla. When the mixture foams up, quickly stir in the peanuts.
- The peanut brittle will quickly begin to set, so pour the mixture onto your prepped baking sheet and leave on the counter to harden. This will take about an hour.
- Once the peanut brittle has hardened, break it into pieces, serve, and enjoy!
Helpful Notes and Tips From Liz
- This buttery peanut brittle recipe will work with peanut butter or any other nut butter.
- You can substitute other nuts for the peanuts if you like. Cashews are a delicious option, especially if you use cashew butter instead of peanut butter!
Tiffany
Love this recipe! I used honey instead of light corn syrup and the hubs loved it! Making some for a staff meeting tomorrow!
Liz Marino
So glad it worked well for you, Tiffany!
Rebecca
I followed the recipe as stated. Unfortunately, after putting in the butter, peanut butter, baking soda and vanilla, in that order, the mix didn’t foam or harden up. After speaking with a couple of friends about the mishap, they told me the baking soda is supposed to be the last ingredient to put in before the peanuts, so that you get that foaming and hardening. Have you experienced this or had any issues with putting the ingredients in the order the recipe said? I’d appreciate any feedback.
Liz @ Tasty Treats & Eats
The baking soda is one of the last ingredients to add to the recipe. I'm not sure why it didn't foam for you! I'm really sorry to hear this!
Cindy S
It really looks easy but I guess I didn’t mix the butter, peanut butter, baking soda and vanilla quick enough. It started hardening really fast. Some of the butter was separated and never got mixed in. I poured into my parchment paper but was unable to spread it. Any suggestions?
Liz @ Tasty Treats & Eats
Hi Cindy - sounds like you over heated this, and like you said - didn't mix quickly enough. Unfortunately you need to move fast when making candy! It hardens quickly.
Charlotte
Can I substitute salted peanuts for the dry roasted for that salty sweet flavor???
lifebeginswithdessert
I'm sure that would work!
Melissa
How do you best store this and what is the shelf life? Making for presents.
lifebeginswithdessert
Peanut brittle has a surprisingly long shelf life compared to other desserts. Because there are no perishable products in this recipe, you can store it in an airtight container or Ziploc bag on the counter for up to two months! You can also store the brittle in the fridge for the same amount of time if you live in a particularly hot or humid region.