How blessed I felt earlier this summer sitting in the kitchen of my husband’s Nanny (grandmother) while she shared her microwave peanut brittle recipe with me. Since the Hubs was a little boy, Nanny has always had a batch of her homemade peanut brittle or a batch of her delicious peanut butter cookies waiting for him when he came to visit her. Today, we are sharing with you how to make peanut brittle in the microwave – as passed down by Nanny.
One of the great things about marrying The Hubs is that I inherited all sorts of family members. Aside from a mother-in-law and father-in-law, I inherited two grandmothers, two sisters-in-law, a brother-in-law, two nephews, and a niece. Inheriting a Nanny with all of her lovely recipes is such a gift!
Nanny’s Microwaveable Peanut Brittle Recipe
This isn’t the only Nanny recipe I’ve posted here to the blog. You may have found my post on her peanut butter cookies. Oh, my gosh. Addicted, people. Addicted.
I’ve always liked peanut brittle okay. I might eat a piece or two of peanut candy if it’s around but it isn’t anything I get overly excited about or have ever thought about making – until I tried Nanny’s homemade peanut brittle, that is!
So how does she make this magical microwaveable peanut brittle?
Ingredients
- Spanish raw peanuts – can be hard to find!
- Granulated sugar
- Light corn syrup
- Salt
- Vanilla
- Unsalted butter
- Baking soda
Nanny’s Tips
I felt so special as my Nanny sat me down in her kitchen. She demonstrated every step of this delicious microwave peanut brittle recipe for me as she made a second batch, stressing certain points, over and over.
“This recipe for peanut brittle with raw peanuts may give you some trouble. You might have trouble finding the raw Spanish peanuts needed for the recipe. Many grocery stores don’t stock them.“
And she was right. I did have a bit of trouble locating them, eventually finding them at our local Harp’s store.
“You have to be quick as lightning when you spread the mix at the end or it will get too hard. Yep. You must be careful at the end because you can easily burn yourself as you pour the mix onto the cookie sheet.“
Right, again.
How to Make Peanut Brittle in the Microwave
It’s easy to learn how to make peanut brittle in the microwave, but you must follow this peanut brittle candy recipe step by step. It is a super easy peanut brittle recipe with corn syrup. I realize some people are anti corn syrup. I wish I could give you a recipe for microwaveable peanut brittle without corn syrup, but that is not the case today, my friends.
For exact microwave peanut brittle ingredients and recipe instructions, look at the recipe card below. Here is a step-by-step summary.
Mix well. The mixture will seem thick. Then, place in microwave (uncovered) for 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
Next, take the bowl out and stir. Place back in the microwave for three more minutes.While the mixture is in the microwave, take out a cookie sheet and grease it with butter. This pan needs to be ready before the mixture finishes cooking.
Next, (no picture for this step), add some vanilla and butter. Dump them both in without mixing. Put bowl back in microwave for one minute and 15 seconds.
Take bowl out of microwave and quickly mix in the bit of baking soda. The color of your mix will change a bit with the addition of the soda.
Stir, stir, stir. And as fast as you can (FAST!!) without burning yourself with the hot bowl, dump the mixture onto the greased cookie sheet and spread the mixture. You have to hurry with all of these steps so as not to allow the mix to harden before you have it in place. But your bowl will be very hot so be prepared with hot pads.
Cooling Peanut Brittle
Next, allow the spread mixture to cool on the cookie sheet.
After about 15 minutes, see if it is cool and stiff. If so, wash your hands well and try to lift it from one of the edges with your fingers or with a spatula.
Once you can lift it, you should be able to start breaking the piece into small clusters. The clusters will be jagged just as peanut brittle should be. Break them all up, eat one or 20 pieces, and store the rest in an air-tight container. That is if you have any left to store. I’m telling you…peanut candy crack!
Check out the video below for a better look at our old fashioned peanut brittle recipe!
Perfect, jagged pieces of sugary, nutty pieces of peanut candy.
Microwave Peanut Brittle Recipe in 10 Minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup Spanish peanuts raw
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup Light corn syrup
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 tsp Unsalted butter plus more for greasing pan
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
Instructions
- First, in a microwaveable bowl, mix one cup of peanuts, one cup of white granulated sugar, a pinch of salt, and 1/2 cup of light corn syrup. Mix well.
- Place mixture in microwave (uncovered) for 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
- Next, take the bowl out and stir.
- Place bowl back in the microwave for three more minutes.
- While the mixture is in the microwave, take out a cookie sheet and grease it with butter.
- Next, add one teaspoon of butter and one teaspoon of vanilla to the mixture. Dump them both in without mixing.
- Put bowl back in microwave for one minute and 15 seconds.
- Take bowl out of microwave and quickly mix in 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. The color of your mix will change a bit with the addition of the soda.
- Stir the mixture as fast as you can while handling the very hot bowl.
- Pour the mixture onto the greased cookie sheet and spread the mixture as fast as you can.
- Allow the candy to harden about 10-15 minutes before breaking it into jagged pieces.
Nutrition
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Butter Pecan Praline Poke Cake (Number ONE recipe on the website!)
Trish
Might change “microwavable bowl” to glass bowl. My microwaveable safe bowl melted and I didn’t know until I pulled it out of the microwave and the bottom fell through and boiling sugar covered my stove. I should of thought it through a little better in hindsight but I’ve never made brittle so just warning anyone like myself. I do plan on attempting this again soon.. in a glass bowl.
Al
I was always intimidated by the thiought of trying to make peanut brittle, but this was pretty easy and so delicious. Cleanup is easier if you run hot water in the mixing bowl.