Homemade Candy Brittle is a Fun Tradition!

Candy brittle or Peanut Brittle always showed up at our house at Christmastime.  Aunt Martha always brought her homemade brittle in a colorfully wrapped box. We could not wait to open it! The brittle was hard and sweet. It easily dissolved in our mouths, letting us chew the peanuts. I now make my own brittle for Christmas using Aunt Martha’s recipe.

Candy brittle is sweet and buttery in flavor with a hard crunchy texture. The ingredients in brittle are usually corn syrup, sugar and peanuts. Adding to little corn syrup to the brittle will give it a grainy texture. If you add too much, the brittle will be stringy and sticky. Salt is added for flavor.

Candy brittle is simply candy that is made from sugar that is cooked on a high temperature. You can add different ingredients to brittle. Nuts are the most popular add on. You add the nuts to the hot sugary syrup mixture and then pour it on wax paper very thinly. You then use your hands to stretch it as thin as you can. To make the texture lighter, add baking soda. Adding the baking soda is what makes peanut brittle snap so easily. This is where the “brittle” name comes from.

Making candy brittle for any occasion (or non-occasion) is a fun thing to do with the kids. This will be a cooking adventure they will remember all of their lives.  Aunt Martha used to let me help stir the candy with her big wooden spoon while I stood on a chair. It was fun to break the brittle and put it in the boxes and wrap them with colorful cellophane.  I hope to do this with my own children some day.

Nowadays, you don’t have to use a heavy fry pan to make candy brittle.

There are simple recipes for the microwave. The brittle made in the microwave is not has hard to chew as the frying pan variety.

Making homemade candy brittle is fun! You can create your own special kind of candy made up of all kinds of exciting creations. This is what makes homemade candy so great. You can create your own tradition. There are many different kinds of candies out there that you can create in your own home. If you don’t know what to make, check out a cookbook for new ideas.  Grab a bowl, some utensils and a pan and get started cooking now!