Peanut Brittle (and Chocolate Peanut Brittle)

Recipe from Our Best Bites

2 c. sugar
1 c. light corn syrup
3/4 c. water
2 c. raw peanuts*
3 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
Chocolate chips (optional)



*You'll find raw peanuts in the baking section of the grocery store, usually called raw Spanish peanuts. They're not roasted or salted or in their shells or anything--just raw peanuts. If you taste one, it'll taste like a raw pea, which gets into the fact that a peanut is a legume and not an actual nut, but that's beside the point... :)

Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until clear and syrupy.

Attach your candy thermometer to the pot in a place where it can measure the temperature of the candy but isn't touching the bottom of the pan. Add peanuts and cook over medium heat until the candy reaches 300 degrees, stirring occasionally; this will probably take about 30-45 minutes. However, you'll want to stick close by in case it cooks more quickly. Also, if you're almost to 300 degrees and you start to smell burning, go ahead and remove it from the burner simply because most candy thermometers most of us have aren't 100% calibrated.

While the candy is cooking, spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and place on a heat-safe surface. When candy is done cooking, pour quickly onto the baking sheet and spread evenly onto the pan. It won't spread to the edges; you just want it to be about 1/4" thick.



Now...this is where pure evil comes in.



I don't put chocolate on all of my peanut brittle because there are people out there who feel like changing peanut brittle in any way is heresy. However...has the combination of chocolate and peanuts EVER led us astray? I love it because it's a lot like toffee, only easier and way less temperamental. If you're feeling the urge (and I really think you should), sprinkle some chocolate chips over the hot peanut brittle and just spread it out with a silicone spatula.

Allow the peanut brittle to cool completely (and the chocolate to become completely solid, if you're using chocolate) and then take a butter knife and start jabbing at your slab of peanut brittle. Feeling a little pent-up aggression? Do the people who grossly misuse the self checkout at the grocery store make you want to jab your (or their) eyes out? Prone to road rage? Been to Walmart on a Saturday lately? Now's your chance to get it all out! As you jab, it will start to break apart and then you can break it into smaller pieces as you figure out how big you want your pieces to be.

You can serve it in a tin or on a cute holiday plate at a party or you could package it in cellophane bags and tie them with ribbons or tuck the bags into some Christmas lanterns.