Spicy Peanut Brittle Recipe
Are you a fan of spicy flavor? Then you’re going to LOVE this recipe!
In order to make this recipe, you will need leftover Cowboy Candy (Candied Jalapenos) syrup. While we often use the leftover syrup as a meat marinade or as a spicy salad dressing, we also love to make this treat.
It is important that you have a candy thermometer to make sure you hit the right temp for the hard crack stage. If you don’t have one, you are likely to over-cook (burn it) or under-cook (brittle will be sticky). Candy thermometers are affordable and a great investment.
Hard crack stage is reached at 295 to 309 °F. You can test the syrup by dropping into ice water. If it has reached the hard crack stage, it will not be sticky, soft or pliable, instead it will be hard and brittle.
Also make sure you use a good quality pot. I used one of our less-than-good-quality pots once and the way it heated messed up an entire batch of brittle. Lesson learned. You want a pot that can handle the heat.
You will have to work quick once the syrup hits hard crack stage. Quickly add nuts, pour onto baking sheet, and spread out using 2 forks. It can be a little tricky, but that just means you hit the right temperature.
My favorite part of making this is breaking the brittle into pieces after it cools. It’s quite therapeutic. If you did it right, it shouldn’t take any effort and should not give any bend AT ALL. They should snap into pieces easily.
If you don’t like peanuts, you can use any nut you’d like. Mix ‘n match and experiment with different nuts! Or, if you’re allergic, don’t use nuts at all and just have some good ol’ spicy brittle.
Cowboy Peanut Brittle Recipe
Spicy peanut brittle made with leftover Cowboy Candy (Candied Jalapenos) syrup.
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Servings: 16
Ingredients
- 1 pint Cowboy Candy syrup
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp butter softened
- 2 cups peanuts
Instructions
- Grease a large baking sheet. Set aside.
- In heavy sauce pan, bring Cowboy Candy syrup and corn syrup to a boil. Set candy thermometer in syrup and continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until it reaches hard crack stage (300 degrees Fahrenheit) or until syrup dropped into ice water turns brittle.
- Remove from heat and quickly add vanilla, baking soda, butter and peanuts. Pour quickly onto baking sheet and use 2 forks to stretch and pull brittle into a rectangle.
- Once brittle is cool, break into pieces.
Notes
This recipe gets HOT. Be very careful when working with the hot syrup and brittle.
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This Post Has 5 Comments
Use raw or processed peanuts, or does it make any difference?
Hi, Jim! You can use either. We use roasted, unsalted peanuts, but any type will work!
Just barely got done trying this, but with chopped up pecans. Lemme tell yah, this candy bites and holds on for a while. LOL. I’m going to pass little bits of this to friends to give em a taste and making it again for the Benefit Christmas Auction this year. THANK YOU, for posting this. Much love!
Just made this today for the first time. Turned out wonderful. I made a batch for my brother’s birthday tomorrow and a batch for a friend having a birthday tomorrow as well. They are going to be thrilled as they love cowboy candy and all things jalapenos. So easy! I did use a heavy bottom old pressure canner to cook it in and that seemed to work well. My question for you is whether this recipe can be doubled? Or is that a bad idea? Thank you so much for sharing this. I will be giving it out at Christmas this year. Super Genius Recipe!!!!
Looks good