Easy Pecan Brittle Recipe - CopyKat Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is pecan brittle made of? ›

In a nonstick saucepan, heat and stir sugar, corn syrup, water and salt over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Over high heat, using a candy thermometer, cook sugar mixture to a hard crack stage (290 °F). Add pecans and butter and cook to 300 °F stirring all the time to keep the nuts from burning.

Baking soda is also very important at this stage since it reacts to the heat, creating carbon dioxide that aerates the caramel, enabling it to snap when someone bites into it rather than requiring them to gnaw at it until it breaks or pulls apart.

Whether it's during the cooking, cooling, or storage process, moisture and humidity can ruin the best batch of brittle in minutes, leaving you with a soggy, sticky mess. This is why eliminating moisture anywhere you can is our top tip on how to store peanut brittle.

Why is it too hard? Using baking soda usually prevents peanut brittle from being too, well, brittle. However, if you cook the candy past the set temperature or overwork the candy once you spread it out onto the cookie sheet, that can cause it to become very hard and difficult to bite through.

Brittleness describes the property of a material that fractures when subjected to stress but has a little tendency to deform before rupture. Brittle materials are characterized by little deformation, poor capacity to resist impact and vibration of load, high compressive strength, and low tensile strength.

Store the brittle in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month to maintain the crisp. Moisture in the refrigerator would soften the brittle.

Without glucose syrup, the peanut brittle will recrystallize and develop a crumbly, gritty texture. Read more about corn syrup below. Peanuts: Use the raw, blanched peanuts. They cook in the syrup and will develop plenty of roasted, nutty caramelized flavor from the candy making process itself.

Brittles are typically composed mostly of sugar, while toffees contain a fair amount of butter and in some cases milk. This makes toffees fuller and richer in taste, while brittles are more purely sweet and sugary. Brittles are also much thinner than most toffees.

This is a temperature issue. Make sure the candy reaches exactly 300ºF / 149ºC, which is hard crack stage, before pouring onto baking sheet. See “Equipment Used to Make Peanut Brittle” for my recommended thermometer. If you're peanut brittle is still chewy after it cools, you may be able to save it!

Pecan Brittle should be stored in the pantry and away from light when unopened. Once opened, it can either be kept in the pantry or stored in the freezer to extend its shelf life. Avoid storing pecan brittle in the refrigerator as it will cause the brittle to soften.

What is the white stuff on pecan? ›

Powdery mildew, caused by the fungus Microsphaeria alni, can be an occasional problem on most pecan varieties under favorable environ mental conditions. This fungus forms a white, dusty covering on the surface of developing nuts and shoots of the tree.

White powdery fungus, high temperatures, dry conditions, immature foliage – Powdery mildew (Fungus – Microsphaera alvi) – When pecans become infected with this fungus [powmil], they appear to be covered with a white, powdery material.

You will want the cookie sheet to be non-stick. Use parchment paper, a silicone baking sheet or a greased cookie sheet. Spread the peanut brittle as thin as you can. Immediately add your sea salt.

It's what's missing — corn syrup. A common brittle ingredient, Asare said, corn syrup causes brittle to go all gooey, gummy and tooth-clingy as it melts in your mouth, whereas sugar crunches, crumbles and dissolves.

Why didn't my homemade peanut brittle get hard? The main reason why peanut brittle doesn't get hard and have the crunch we expect is because the sugar was not cooked long enough. The sugar needs to be cooked to what is called the hard crack stage, 300ºF. Is English toffee the same as peanut brittle?

The praline is a southern tradition, commonly made with sugar, corn syrup, milk, butter, and pecan halves. It's a confection with a history as rich as its flavor.

Pralines have a lot in common with nut brittle, with the difference being mostly in the addition of cream and the cooking temperature––the sugary syrup used to coat pralines is heated to a soft-ball consistency, a lower temperature than the hard-crack stage of peanut brittle.

Pecan is a hardwood. Unfortunately, many people do not consider it a true hardwood, given its low density. However, the term hardwood refers to trees that shed leaves during fall. Because pecan does not retain its leaves all year round, it is hardwood.

Pralines are made with brown sugar and heavy whipping creams while Brittle uses white sugar and corn syrup.