Making my Grandma’s Peanut Brittle is one of my favorite holiday traditions. This classic treat of salty-sweet perfection is surprisingly easy to make.
Grandma’s Peanut Brittle is one of my favorite holiday classics! It’s super fun and easy to make, and I love giving it as a gift during the holiday season! Cozying up in the kitchen on a cold wintery night and making this recipe is always fun!
I have made my grandma’s recipe for peanut brittle for 8 years now, I have yet to find one that is better.
My Favorite Kitchen Tools To Make This Recipe
From trusty pots and pans to handy gadgets, I’ve curated a list of products I use and love.
I’ve had my Grandma’s Peanut Brittle for as long as I can remember. I vividly remember a Christmas candy tray stemming from having Christmas at her house.
That was when I was young because I come from a large Catholic family with my dad having 7 siblings. Naturally, we outgrew my grandparents’ house and rotated it between my aunts and uncles and, on two occasions, at my parents’ house. But every year, we had the infamous candy tray filled with peanut brittle. My Aunt Patty eventually started to make it as well. But I didn’t want this yummy, tasty tradition to be left to her. So I started making it as well.
Peanut Brittle Baking Tip
I remember calling my grandma up and asking her for the recipe. She first told me to make sure I wore excellent oven mitts because otherwise, I would burn my hands. She also noted that I should use oven mitts that I don’t care about just in case I need to throw them away. Okay, at this point, I will be honest, but I was scared. Scared that I was A – going to screw up massively and B – burn myself. Both are ugly situations.
But I let go of the fear and carried on. I went for it, and bam, it turned out amazing. She was right; the first two times I made this, I got the candy all over the gloves, but now I consider myself a pro.
The hardest part of making Grandma’s Peanut Brittle is letting the candy cook at the proper temperature. I am just not patient. I only cook the candy to 280 degrees because I love the brittle color at this point; my grandma cooks it until 290. Either way, this brittle is the best.
My grandma made this peanut brittle recipe until last year; she said that at 90, it was the only thing she would ever still make; that’s how much my grandma loves us and peanut brittle.
Making peanut brittle in our homes is no longer a tradition. So today, I share my Grandma’s Peanut Brittle recipe, hoping you will return the homemade peanut brittle to your table and your neighbors.
How do you store Peanut Brittle?
I’m drooling over this stack of peanut brittle; I can’t wait to make another batch.
I love the holidays because of all the yummy treats made. But my favorite part is making traditional treats for my family and friends, whom I grew up with.
More holiday favorites
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Grandma’s Peanut Brittle
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Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons butter + more for pan
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cup Spanish peanuts
Instructions
- Butter a large high sided cooking sheet.
- Over medium heat bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, water, and 2 tablespoons of butter. Using a candy thermometer cook until it reaches 240 degrees. Add Spanish peanuts and cook until thermometer reaches 290 degrees.
- Note: I like to remove mine around 290, this is where I like the coloring and the crunch but my Grandma likes 300.
- Remove from heat and quickly stir in baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Pour immediately into the buttered pan, and tilt the pan so that the brittle covers the entire pan corner to corner. DO NOT use a knife to push it around, your brittle will not look as nice.
- Let the brittle cool and harden completely before breaking up and serving.
Adding this to my baking line up for this holiday season! Perfect for gift giving; yum!
Enjoy!
This sounds awesome.Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful recipe.
I hope you enjoy it!
So tasty and crunchy, a lovely snack!
Enjoy!
Yum! My husband loves this recipe! I can’t wait to give this a try! I’m so excited to make this again!
So glad to hear you both enjoy it!
My family will go crazy ove these peanut brittle! I must make them this weekend!
I hope they enjoy!
So easy to make, and SO GOOD! My husband and I Love it!!! 😉
I’m glad you enjoy it!
I have to get this on my Holiday dessert list! Looks great!
Enjoy!
Is this gluten free?
Hi Sharon! This peanut brittle is gluten-free. If you’re cooking for someone with severe issues with gluten, just be sure to check for a gluten-free label on each ingredient. The main ones to watch out for are the baking soda, vanilla, and peanuts as they can be processed on shared lines. I hope this helps, enjoy!
My first time making peanut brittle and I followed your recipe. It turned out perfectly. Everyone loved it. It got hard and cracked loudly. The taste is addictive. Your grandma was right about the 290 degrees. I like mine really caramelly. The temperature is the key. Buttering the pan gave it an added buttery yumminess. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I’m very excited to try this recipe! I’ve been wanting to make my great grandmother’s recipe, from a cookbook called Choice Candy Recipes (1930) that she used for the candy shop she owned in downtown Portland, OR during the depression. Everyone still bought candy! Her old cookbook is threadbare, badly stained with evidence of much candy-making, and written all over. I was nervous to follow her recipe without researching the method. I’m relieved to see how similar your grandma’s tried-and true recipe is! My Grandma Helen’s hand-written notes say to “Add nuts about 235 degrees; Add butter and salt at 280; cook till nuts are straw colored.” Maybe I’ll try both! 🙂
I forgot to leave a rating; please make it 5!
Brittle is hard but sticky. Why
Renee – did you use a candy thermometer? Sounds like it didn’t get to the hard crack stage, I have done that before too. Practice makes perfect.
This turned out so well for having made it the first time. I was kinda scared to do it. My grandmother made peanut brittle when I was growing up.
I’m so glad it turned out well for your first time!
I love peanut brittle, going to give this a try.
Enjoy!
My grandma always made peanut brittle at Christmas. She passed before I ever was able to get her recipe and I’ve always been a little afraid to try to make it. I finally made your recipe today and followed your instructions exactly. It came out so perfect!! My candy thermometer was messed up so I ended up using my instant read thermometer expecting for it to fail but I took it off right at 285 and it’s super crunchy without being so rock hard that you’re afraid of breaking a tooth on it. And the FLAVOR is amazing! I truly believe this is the best peanut brittle I’ve ever had! Thank you so much for sharing! My grandma would be proud!
Just made this! How long should I let it cool before breaking it up and storing it?
I hope you enjoyed it! You should let it cool completely to room temperature before breaking it up.
I have made this probably a dozen times. Perfect every time.
Thank you, so glad you enjoyed it!
I just made this today and it turned out amazing! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. I was looking for a good brittle recipe and I’m saving this one for sure!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!
Peanut Brittle is my favorite, thank you for sharing the great recipe. I have a delicious dish on my list. Looking forward to creating more delicious dishes, I will be back
This sounds amazing. Can’t wait to try it with my granddaughters. What size pan works best to get the correct thickness? Thanks for sharing!
The pan used is a half sheet pan, or 13″x18″. I hope you and your granddaughters enjoy!
Nothing beats a good old fashioned peanut brittle this time of the year. Thank you so much for sharing, I will be making this weekend!
I know a few people that would totally love this. 🙂
This looks really delicious! Perfect for holiday!
YUM! This Peanut Brittle looks and sounds amazing! I can’t wait to try it!
This would disappear at our house! It looks incredible!! YUM!
I believe that peanutbrittle recipes are almost the same. It’s how you tweak it through experience that makes the difference. I use my mother’s 100 year old cast iron skillet. I freeze a pizza pan. It sets up nicely. Using the pizza I can turn it easily to stretch the peanutbrittle. Don’t use thermometers. They break give false readings or just get in the way. I was taught the way it looks and smells.