The best Easy Peanut Brittle recipe! Learn how to make peanut brittle in no time. This homemade peanut brittle is perfect for the holidays!
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This Homemade Peanut Brittle is an old-fashioned dessert that everyone loves, especially during the holidays! If you are searching for the perfect sweet to snack on or gift to give this holiday season - we're going to show you how to make a peanut brittle with only a few ingredients and steps!
If you're looking for other holiday treats, we love to serve homemade peanut brittle with Butterscotch Haystacks, Easy Fudge, Caramel Popcorn and Pecan Snowball Cookies. You know it's going to be a great holiday when you have great desserts (especially this best peanut brittle recipe!)
What is peanut brittle?
Peanut Brittle is a hard, crunchy candy. It's cooked down and cooled to make a bark-like candy that melts in your mouth!
Why We Love This Old-Fashioned Peanut Brittle Recipe
This old-fashioned peanut brittle is one of our favorite holiday recipes!
- Lasts a long time: Unlike other holiday treats that can go stale quickly, this classic peanut brittle lasts for weeks at room temperature!
- Easy to make: Don't be intimidated, peanut brittle is so easy
What Is In Peanut Brittle?
To make this easy peanut brittle recipe you'll need:
- water
- light corn syrup
- white sugar
- salted butter
- smooth peanut butter
- baking soda
- vanilla extract
- dry roasted peanuts
You'll also need a baking sheet and parchment paper.
How to Make Peanut Brittle
Making peanut brittle is easier than you'd think!
- Prep - Prepare a baking sheet by covering it in parchment paper and spraying it down with nonstick cooking spray.
- Boil mixture - In a saucepan bring the water, corn syrup, and white sugar to a boil while stirring regularly. Once the mixture has come to a boil, continue boiling until it is golden brown.
- Add in ingredients - Remove the saucepan from the stovetop and quickly stir in the butter, peanut butter, baking soda, and vanilla. Once the mixture has foamed up quickly add the peanuts and stir until the peanuts are well distributed.
- Pour onto baking sheet - Pour the mixture onto your prepped baking sheet and leave it on the counter to harden for an hour.
- Serve - Once the brittle has hardened, break it into pieces, serve, and enjoy!
Substitutions for Peanut Butter Brittle
Corn Syrup: You can use dark corn syrup but we don't recommend it. Dark corn syrup has a molasses base which will give this a different texture
Sugar: If you don't have white sugar, brown sugar should work but I haven't tried it
Butter: Butter is essential to this recipe. We haven't tried it with dairy free butter.
Peanut Butter: Make sure to use smooth peanut butter, not crunchy peanut butter. It's best to use regular peanut butter, not the natural kind.
Baking Soda: Is essential to this recipe! Baking soda helps achieve the brittle, hard texture of peanut brittle. Without it you may get a chewy brittle.
Vanilla Extract: Helps to add flavor, we don't recommend substituting.
Peanuts: You can use raw peanuts in this recipe but we don't recommend it. Dry roasted peanuts are much better and help to give a crunchy texture. Raw peanuts can give a chewy texture to the peanut brittle and may make it go bad quicker.
Tips for Homemade Peanut Brittle
- 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 degrees, but 350 is ideal
- Don't skip the baking soda! Baking soda is essential for peanut brittle, it helps it get crunchy!
How to Store This Recipe for Peanut Brittle
Peanut brittle has a surprisingly long shelf life compared to other desserts.
Storage: 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.
Freezing: We don't recommend freezing peanut brittle, it can get soggy when added to the freezer and exposed to moisture.
Easy Peanut Brittle FAQ
If your peanut brittle is chewy, it is most likely because it did not reach the required heat level before you took it off the burner. In order to achieve a peanut brittle that is firm and cracks under pressure, you need to achieve the hard-crack temperature stage. This is roughly 350 degrees Fahrenheit. You can use a candy thermometer to test your brittle if you'd like. Your peanut brittle also may not be brittle if you skip baking soda.
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!
Peanut brittle is technically considered a candy. While it's made of peanut butter and peanuts, most people classify it as candy.
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.
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 to get hard.
Why did my peanut brittle not harden?
If your homemade peanut brittle isn't brittle, it's most likely because it 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 roughly 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Baking soda is also very important to peanut brittle. If you skipped the baking soda it could lead to a chewier peanut brittle. Baking soda helps neutralize the air pockets that are created when cooking the candy.
How to Fix Homemade Peanut Brittle
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 too 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.
Other Holiday Desserts to Try:
- Butterscotch Haystacks
- Christmas Rice Krispies Treat
- Peppermint Fudge
- Pecan Snowball Cookies
- Easy Nutella Cookies
Old-Fashioned Peanut Brittle Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup 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.
- In a saucepan bring the water, corn syrup, and white sugar to a boil while stirring regularly. Once the mixture has come to a boil, continue boiling until it is golden brown. This will take about 20 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the stovetop and quickly stir in the butter, peanut butter, baking soda, and vanilla. Once the mixture has foamed up quickly add the peanuts and stir until the peanuts are well distributed.
- 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!
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.
Charlotte
Can I substitute salted peanuts for the dry roasted for that salty sweet flavor???
lifebeginswithdessert
I'm sure that would work!
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.
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!