My Grandma Wanda was the queen of Christmas candy. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of her kitchen counter filled with all kinds of homemade Christmas candies packed in a a variety of Christmas tins. From toffee to divinity, she even had an amazing hard cinnamon candy and I haven’t seen a recipe similar to it anywhere else. My aunt was kind enough to send me pictures of some of her handwritten recipes so I can share them with my kids and with my friends here on the blog. Grandma Wanda’s peanut brittle is very easy to make and perfect for homemade Christmas gifting.
For this recipe, you’ll need a candy thermometer (I like the kind that clip to the side of the pot), a large heavy bottomed pot and a buttered sheet pan.
- 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 3 cups of granulated sugar
- 1 cup of light corn syrup
- 1 cup of water
- 1 stick of unsalted butter 8 tablespoons, cubed
- 3 cups of dry roasted peanuts one pound
-
Prepare an 18x13 baking sheet by greasing with butter and set aside.
-
In a small bowl, mix baking soda, salt and vanilla extract and set aside.
-
In a large heavy bottomed pot, combine sugar, corn syrup and water.
-
With a heat proof spoon or spatula, stir mixture constantly over very high heat until it reaches 240 degrees on candy thermometer.
-
Add peanuts and continue stirring until mixture reaches 320 degrees on candy thermometer.
-
Remove mixture from heat and stir in butter until melted.
-
Stir in baking soda mixture. It will be foamy, stir until combined.
-
Pour mixture onto baking sheet and let set until hard.
-
Break into pieces.
Notes from Grandma Wanda - Must be stirred constantly and use a wooden spoon and a candy thermometer.
I’d love for you to keep up on my new projects and recipes. You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter. You can also find me on Pinterest, that’s my favorite place to hang out and I’d love to see you there.
5 Easy Dinner Ideas for Busy Weeknights
My five FAVORITE recipes for busy families!
- Quick to make
- Light on your budget
- Easy to clean-up
- and...most important...absolutely DELICIOUS
I made the Peanut Brittle over the weekend and it was like I was stepping back in time to when I was a child in my own Grandmother’s kitchen. Thank you so much for posting this recipe. My Grandmother’s recipes have mostly been lost, but this is exactly like her brittle.
That’s wonderful, PJ! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Merry Christmas!
Delish! I have made this probably a dozen times. Perfect every time.
Confused about the salt.do I use both 1 teaspoon of kosher and 1/2 teaspoon of table salt?
Or is it one or another.
I’m sorry Dee. It looks like my new recipe card took out the parentheses and made it unclear. It should be 1 teaspoon of kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon regular salt.
The beat peanut brittle recipe ever!! Will be making this for years to come!!
I’m so glad! Thank you, Kristi!
How about the cinnamon hard tack candy recipe. My grandma used to make it and no one has the recipe anymore. I would love to get a good rec
I just tried to make the peanut brittle and it didn’t get hard. I put it back in the pot to let it boil some more and ended up burning it. I didn’t have a candy thermometer so I used a regular thermometer that never reached 320 degrees. I just let it cook for about 10-15 minutes but I don’t know if that was long enough. If I don’t have a candy thermometer about how long should I let it cook? I love peanut brittle and I really want to make it for the holidays. Thanks so much for sharing.
My Dad loves peanut brittle. Yours looks better than most I’ve seen in stores. He’d be thrilled if I made this for him.
This brittle is seriously so dang addicting! I also like that it just satisfies my sweet tooth enough without having to eat a big slice of cake or pie. These are delicious!
Delicious recipe! I love the addition of dry roasted nuts. My family has traditionally used Spanish peanuts. The dry roasted gives it a distinctively different flavor! Yum!
Peanut brittle definitely reminds me of my grandmother and the holidays!
This is the easiest recipe! Will be making it year after year. Thanks for sharing.
Really enjoyed this recipe. Peanut brittle is so easy to make. I had no idea.
To a perfect crisp! My grandma would be proud of this one
This is so delicious!! We are seriously obsessed! Thanks for sharing!
This peanut brittle is delicious! My kids love these delicious dessert bars!
This is a holiday must have for us. It’s just gets us in the holiday spirit. We also love passed down recipes. They are always the best!!
This is one of my husband’s favorite recipes! I can’t wait to make this again!
This peanut brittle is so delicious and addicting, I could not stop munching on it.
DELICIOUS brittle! I have a HUGE weakness for good brittle! So yum. So delicious. So incredibly addictive!
I made this and now nobody in my family can stop munching on it.
I will never buy store-bought peanut brittle again, this is so much better! It was easy to make and turned out perfect.