Peanut brittle is by far the thing Papa loved about Christmas. He is a peanut brittle man. There is a little store on McKellips Road called the Orange Patch Too. He stops in at this store when he gets a craving for ice cream, as they have a small ice cream counter there. At the ice cream counter are also the fudge, turtles, various chocolates and yep, peanut brittle. Actually, different kinds of brittles are there and it's all tempting. Often Pop would come home from visiting Falcon Field with a small bag of peanut brittle. Nana would make several batches of peanut brittle just to keep on the counter for anyone who might be by, and of course for Papa to snack on.Butter a 12"x18" (half sheet cake) pan and set aside. A silipat can also be used with great results. A large pizza pan works well also.
In a small mixing bowl combine:
- 1/2 t. Salt
- 2 t. Baking Soda
- 2 t. Vanilla
- Set aside
In a heavy 4 qt. sauce pan combine:
- 3 C. Sugar
- 1 1/4 C. Corn Syrup (light)
- 1 1/4 C. Water
Put on medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until mixture comes to a full boil. (about 20-30 minutes). Remove from heat and add:
- 1/2 C. Butter (1 stick) Cut into chunks
Clip on candy thermometer and return to burner. Continue cooking and stirring until mixture reaches 280º or soft crack stage. Add:
Stirring constantly, bring mixture up to 300º or hard-crack stage. (about 12-14 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in baking soda mixture.
Be careful as this will cause steam and you could burn your hand. Pour into prepared pan and cool for 1-2 minutes. Working quickly, begin stretching the brittle from the edges with buttered hands or two forks. As it stretches beyond the pan, allow those pieces to break off and place them on the counter, or onto another silipat. If you turn them upside down, this will cause the peanuts to stay in the middle rather than sink to the bottom of the candy. Continue stretching and pulling off pieces until all the candy has been stretched. Allow to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.
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