Microwave Peanut Brittle
This is my mom's recipe for peanut brittle. It is a hit with everyone in the family and so easy.
This is my mom's recipe for peanut brittle. It is a hit with everyone in the family and so easy.
- Carbohydrate 0.31601825052014 g
- Cholesterol 0.1918 mg
- Fat 1.01470591738442 g
- Fiber 0.172000001445624 g
- Protein 0.447286250680676 g
- Saturated Fat 0.189730683437562 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (7g)
- Sodium 4.9064041693014 mg
- Sugar 0.144018249074516 g
- Trans Fat 0.0526338000470256 g
- Calories 11 calories
Step-by-step
- Butter a cookie sheet ahead of time and place it in a warm oven. This will help the candy spread later.
- Layer syrup, sugar, and salt. I used a 2.5L Pyrex mixing bowl...the middle size.
- Total microwave time is about 6 minutes, but the are broken up into three times. Microwave the above layered ingredients for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove from microwave and add nuts and stir quickly to mix. Return to microwave and cook 2 minutes.
- Remove and stir in butter and vanilla. Always work quickly. It is helpful to have ingredients premeasured so everything can go fast.
- Microwave 1 minutes.
- Remove and add baking soda. Stir quickly and then turn onto warm baking sheet. Spread as much as you can as you pour.
- Tilt cookie sheet in different directions to help the mixture spread while the mixture is hot. After a minute or two as the mixture starts to set, loosen on edges and as you do, pull to stretch as much as you can. This seemed more effective to us than patting out with spoon. Do whatever works for you, but working fast is important as the set up is quick.
- Once the mixture hardens, break into pieces and store in airtight container.
- Optional: Instead, pour over popcorn that has the unpopped kernels taken out to make cracker jacks.
Baking soda does the heaviest chemical lifting in this confection by reacting with residual acids in the corn syrup and sugar mixture to release carbon dioxide gas. Trapping these microscopic gas bubbles transforms a dense, hard sugar sheet into a porous, brittle matrix that shatters easily between the teeth. Sugar molecules undergo thermal inversion during the sequential microwave heating intervals, breaking sucrose down into glucose and fructose to prevent unwanted crystallization.
Traditional candy making requires a candy thermometer to monitor exact sugar stages, but microwave cooking relies strictly on timing and visual cues like color darkening. Preheating the cookie sheet in an oven keeps the molten sugar fluid longer upon pouring, allowing gravity and manual stretching to create a thin sheet. Adding the baking soda at the final stage demands immediate stirring because the foaming reaction begins instantly upon contact with residual heat.
Popcorn makes a viable alternative base if poured directly over popped kernels cleared of unpopped hulls.
