Peanut Brittle

I started following the recipe (for 3/4 cup of peanuts and 3/4 cup of sugar) and realized quickly the caramel would not work out right. I immediately went on the comments and followed the advice : I added 1/2 cup water and once the caramel was perfect added 1/4 cup of butter. It was perfect. I also greased the paper sheet to make it extra easy to detach. Thanks !

First time peanut brittle maker. Followed Max’s family recipe exactly. The brittle came out perfect. The baking soda is essential. Thanks Max!

Awful recipe - uneven heating, chunks of undissolved sugar sitting in a puddle of too caramelized liquid sugar led to rock hard brittle

Ridiculously bad recipe. Had to throw out the first crystallized batch and start over with more water, a metal spoon and brush to wipe down sides. Medium heat was too high, needs to melt first. Second batch ok til peanuts added, now it’s a gloopy messy that doesn’t spread at all. Add more specific instructions including indication of apx times. Am I stirring for about 5 min? 25? An hour? I get watching for golden brown sugar but sugar is notoriously tricky and this recipe lacks basic guidelines

Really enjoyed this but I made some changes based on comments: Preheated pan in 225F oven Added 1/4 tsp cream of tartar to sugar before boiling Boiled sugar to 300 degrees for hard crack stage Added 1/2 tsp baking soda and 2 tbsp of cold butter before adding peanuts Final product was rich. The butter did make it a little greasy but the taste was great

Use a candy thermometer: cook to 300F (hard crack) to eliminate guesswork and (more importantly) to keep the candy from pulling the fillings out of everyone's teeth!

Thanks for all the helpful notes. My thoughts: Agreed the parchment and baking soda are critical. You really do only need two tbsp of water, but if you’re not comfortable making caramel this could be intimidating. Would add butter next time, as the brittle lacked richness without it.

If you're feeling fancy, try pulling the brittle apart as it cools to create delicate, satiny ribbons of peanut-studded crack! (These also lend themselves to use as garnish for desserts, etc.) Definitely use Max's recipe!

I needed a lot more direction on how to caramelize sugar, despite the claim that this was an easy recipe. This turned out a crystalized mess. I think my mistake was stirring the sugar. I can see from further research I shouldn't have done that. :(

Nightmare recipe as written. Too little water and it cooled too much adding the nuts. I wish I had read the comments before attempting and used their modifications. Do not recommend .

I used Max’s Family Recipe. Well, I didn’t make brittle, I made some sort of peanut nougat!! I’ll never be able to repeat this mistake and that is unfortunate because it’s the best sweet I’ve ever made accidentally or on purpose. People can’t get enough of it.

Absolutely not possible with that little water. Was a complete mess.

*sigh* I did an amateur mistake. We only had shelled peanuts so after cracking open a cup of peanuts, I decided to be lazy and use peanut butter for the rest. I also burned my sugar so it tastes a bit weird. Welp, I’m only 11 so what can I say. Other than that though, tastes great. It’s nice to eat with a cup of milk.

First time peanut brittle maker! 2 tablespoons was enough water. Just had to keep working it. Turned out exactly like the picture and delicious too!

I've made this recipe a few times now without success, I kept getting very chewy brittle. After some research online, the ideal temperature for the taffy is 295–309˚F. For future attempts, I will use a candy thermometer, but I figured I would share here in case anyone else was having the same problem.