Nut Brittle

I was in the mood to make brittle. Don't ask me why....I've never even made brittle before. Of course, I didn't have peanuts in the house, so I improvised with cashews. I love how it turned out! And it was actually easier to make than I feared. Thank goodness for a candy thermometer! Make sure you have all of your ingredients measured and set aside in advance because once your candy reaches the proper temperature you won't have time to measure everything.

I took a large cookie sheet and lined it with tinfoil and then greased the foil for easy cleanup. I also kept the pan warm in a 200 degree oven so that when I poured the brittle liquid onto it, I would have more time to spread it. When my candy reached 250 degrees I pulled the pan from the oven so it would be ready. I found that it didn't work so well to use a utensil for spreading, so I poured the mix and shifted the pan from side to side to help the candy distribute. I tossed in the pan in the fridge to cool.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup nuts
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside.
2. In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in nuts. Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.
3. Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter, vanilla, and baking soda; pour at once onto cookie sheet. With 2 forks, lift and pull mixture into rectangle about 14x12 inches; cool. Snap candy into pieces.