Our 5-Ingredient Peanut Brittle is the Best Candy to Make and Share (2024)

Updated on November 22, 2023

The perfect balance between salty and sweet, our peanut brittle recipe is made with only five ingredients: peanuts, granulated sugar, butter, baking soda, and salt. There’s no corn syrup in our peanut brittle, giving it a true old-fashioned flavor and texture.

Peanut brittle is one of the easiest candies to make—and since it can be made way ahead of when you need it, it's perfect for gifting during the holiday season (or any season). It's customizable too: If peanuts aren’t your thing, make it with cashews or almonds instead.

What Is Peanut Brittle?

Brittle is a kind of smooth, crisp candy made by stirring toasted nuts into a sugar mixture cooked to the hard crack or caramel stage, then turned out onto an oiled surface to cool. Peanut brittle is the most popular type of brittle.

3 Tips for Making Peanut Brittle

• Avoid making brittle in a humid environment. Brittle is best made on dry, low humidity day. If you make it when it is humid, the candy will attract moisture from the air, making it sticky instead of crisp. Humidity also slows the cooling process while your candy is setting, increasing the chances of having unwanted crystals form.
• Have all your ingredients measured out before you start to make the peanut brittle so you aren’t searching for an ingredient while the sugar burns.
• Be careful when pouring the brittle into the buttered pan as the candy is very hot. Wearoven gloves to make sure the molten candy doesn’t touch your skin.
  

1. Butter baking sheet:

   Butter a rimmed baking sheet; set aside.

   

2. Mix sugar, water, and salt:

   Stir together sugar, 1/2 cup water, and the salt in a medium saucepan.

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   Use a medium-size saucepan (wider rather than taller) that does not have a nonstick coating.

   

3. Cook:

   Cook over high heat, without stirring, until sugar begins to melt and turn golden, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar has melted and mixture turns golden amber, about 10 minutes.

   

4. Add peanuts:

   Remove pan from heat. Stir in peanuts.

   

5. Spread on prepared tray:

   Immediately pour peanut mixture onto buttered baking sheet. Quickly spread mixture to 1/2 inch thick using an oiled metal spatula. Let cool completely, about 15 minutes.

   

6. Break into pieces:

   Break brittle into pieces ready to serve.

   

Storage

Properly stored (in an airtight container at room temperature), peanut brittle will last one month. Do not store the brittle in the refrigerator because the moisture in the fridge will soften the brittle.

Peanut brittle can be frozen, but it is not something we recommend because the candy keeps well at room temperature and freezing alters its texture.