January 26th (Tomorrow) is apparently National Peanut Brittle Day. Who knew? This month’s Go Ahead Honey It’s Gluten Free, hosted by the lovely Lauren of Celiac Teen, is “Follow the Calendar.” Since I’m a rebel, I decided to try making this a bit early so I could submit it for Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays. (I actually made it on the weekend so I wouldn’t have to cheat on my Daniel Fast but that’s just how I roll.)
I wanted to make a peanut brittle that didn’t have any corn syrup and wasn’t just white sugar, so I based the recipe on Spunky Coconut’s Spiced Almond Brittle, which used agave nectar. Mine was only brittle when it was straight out the freezer as I didn’t use a candy thermometer and I added baking soda at the beginning, so I was unsure on how hard I should boil it. That’s what happens when you don’t follow the recipe 100%.
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle
1 c. agave nectar
1/3 c. coconut oil
1 1/2 c. roasted, unsalted peanuts
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda (optional)
- Measure agave nectar and coconut oil into a small to medium sized pot. Bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, add peanuts.
- Not so brittle way: bring to a simmer (lot of little bubbles) and stir continually for 20 minutes.
Brittle way: keep boiling/simmering until you’ve reached hard crack temperature. (around 290 – 300F)* - Remove from heat and stir in salt and baking soda. If you add the baking soda, it will be very frothy.
- Pour onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Put into freezer for two hours to cool.
- Once cool, break into pieces. If you made the not-so-brittle version, store in the fridge or else you’ll have very sticky peanut toffee!
- Enjoy!
Which do you like better: brittle or toffee?
*Note: Since I’m not an expert on sugar and since we’re using agave nectar instead of sugar, the hard crack temperature might be different. If you try this, please let me know how it turns out!
I submitted this recipe to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays. As usual, the recipes look amazing, so check it out!
Without Adornment 