The Davenport Soft Peanut Brittle Recipe - Krista Gilbert (2024)

FAQs

How do you harden soft peanut brittle? ›

I have experimented heating the candy between 285-300 degrees. I like heating to 300 if it is immediately taken off the heat and cooled. It hardens quickly if you go over 300 even a little bit. Most people have had success with the brittle at any temp in between 285-300, but like I said, I prefer closer to 300 degrees.

Why did my peanut brittle turn out chewy? The likely cause is that the sugar mixture didn't reach the proper hard crack stage temperature. Ensuring it reaches 300˚F is key to getting that classic brittle texture.

How Long Does Peanut Brittle Last? Properly stored (in an airtight container at room temperature), peanut brittle will last one to two months.

The general origin story of peanut brittle is that it came from the South, and that a Southern woman in the second half of the 19th century came up with peanut brittle by accidentally putting baking soda into her taffy instead of cream of tartar.

The main reason why peanut brittle doesn't get hard and have the crunch we expect is because the sugar was not cooked long enough. The sugar needs to be cooked to what is called the hard crack stage, 300ºF.

If your peanut brittle never sets up hard, it means you didn't cook it to a high enough temperature. Make sure you cook it to the “hard crack” stage, between 298°F- 313°F, and swirl your thermometer probe around in the syrup to get an accurate read of the temperature.

Baking soda is also very important at this stage since it reacts to the heat, creating carbon dioxide that aerates the caramel, enabling it to snap when someone bites into it rather than requiring them to gnaw at it until it breaks or pulls apart.

If you overcook the brittle, it could be bitter or burnt. If you undercook it, the brittle won't properly set and the end result will be sticky.

Outside of that single ingredient, peanut brittle is painfully unhealthy. It contains: sugar, corn syrup, and butter, all of which are unhealthy for your body in different ways. But, peanut brittle becomes terrible for your teeth once all of those ingredients are combined into the final product.

Remember human peanut brittle is not safe for dog consumption, so make your pup their own to enjoy!

Why does my peanut brittle have bubbles? ›

The secret is in the baking soda. As the sugar is cooking and begins turning amber in color it accumulates small amounts of acid, and that acid reacts chemically with the alkaline baking soda releasing about a zillion minuscule bubbles of CO₂ that get trapped, making the sugar porous and, well… brittle.

I don't recommend substituting honey, molasses, or agave for the corn syrup. Those other liquid sugars have impurities that will burn at the higher temperature of making caramel, leading to a bitter-tasting brittle.

“Brittle” , a flat hardened sugar candy, is thought to be one of the first candies ever made. Peanut brittle made with corn syrups & nuts began appearing in cookbooks around the 19th century. Because we find peanut brittle recipes most commonly in American cookbooks, it is generally recognized as an American recipe.

Brittles are typically composed mostly of sugar, while toffees contain a fair amount of butter and in some cases milk. This makes toffees fuller and richer in taste, while brittles are more purely sweet and sugary. Brittles are also much thinner than most toffees.

But did you know that this popular treat may very well be an American invention? That's right. And an American folk hero of yore may have helped garner its fame. In fact, peanut brittle's place in American pop culture is certainly an established one.

If your butter was too soft or if the peanut butter you're using is too thin, the filling can get a little soft and sticky as you're rolling. The refrigerator can fix that—stop what you're doing and chill the bowl of filling for 15 minutes in the refrigerator before trying again to roll into balls.

If the brittle does not reach a hard crack stage (300F degrees) it will not set up and harden properly. Also, the correct pan size matters. If your pan is too small then the brittle mixture will be too thick and won't be able to harden up properly. If you like it to have a more salty flavor, you can use salted peanuts.