Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- 1 ¼ cups roasted peanuts
- ¼ cup unsweetened baking cocoa
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup whipping cream
Instructions
- Start by lightly buttering your cookie sheet. Set it somewhere you can easily reach it, you’ll need to work fast later, and you don’t want to be scrambling around your kitchen looking for it.
- Put the sugar and corn syrup in your large saucepan. Crank the heat up to high and bring everything to a rolling boil. Watch it carefully because sugar can go from just right to burnt in seconds.
- Toss in the roasted peanuts and turn the heat down to medium. Now comes the arm workout, stir constantly. I know it seems tedious, but this stirring prevents burning and ensures even cooking.
- Keep stirring until your candy thermometer reads 300°F. This is called the hard-crack stage, and it’s crucial. Too low and your brittle will be chewy; too high and it’ll taste burnt. Once you hit that temperature, pull the pan off the heat immediately.
- Here’s where you need to move quickly. Add the cocoa powder, peanut butter, butter, and whipping cream. Stir like your life depends on it until everything combines into a smooth, glossy mixture.
- Add the baking soda and keep stirring. You’ll see the mixture foam up and become lighter in color. This is exactly what you want, those bubbles will make your brittle easier to bite.
- Pour the entire mixture onto your prepared cookie sheet. Use your spatula to spread it out to about ¼-inch thickness. Don’t worry about making it absolutely even, rustic is part of the charm.
- Let it cool completely. This takes about 2 hours, though I know waiting is tough. Once it’s cool, break it into large, irregular pieces. I like using my hands for this part because it feels satisfying, but you can also use the edge of a wooden spoon.
- Store your brittle in an airtight container. It’ll keep for several weeks, though I’ve never had a batch last that long in my house.
Notes
- Use a candy thermometer you trust. I learned this the hard way after making three batches of sticky, chewy “brittle” with a faulty thermometer.
- Have all your ingredients measured and ready before you start cooking. Once that sugar hits 300°F, you need to move fast.
- Don’t skip the butter on the cookie sheet. I tried using parchment paper once, and the brittle stuck so badly I nearly lost the whole batch.
- If you prefer a less sweet brittle, you can use dark cocoa powder instead of regular unsweetened cocoa.
- Room temperature peanut butter incorporates more easily than cold peanut butter straight from the fridge.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Candy
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 piece
- Calories: 180 kcal
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 120 mg
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 5 mg