Peanut Brittle x2

To top off Meghan's birthday I made her two types of peanut brittle. Her mom made her cupcakes, so I mixed it up with 2 different batches of birthday peanut brittle. One is a traditional style peanut brittle and the other is a contemporary twist from Alton Brown. I halved the recipes, but below are the full scale recipes for both versions

Traditional Peanut Brittle
This was the hands down winner. It was far easier to make and much tastier. My baking thermometer didn't go high enough, but I was able to tell by texture and feel to guess within range. The ingredients are below

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 cup peanuts
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking soda

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 peanuts. 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.

Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter and baking soda; pour at once onto a greased cookie sheet. The baking soda adds air bubbles, similar to unleavened baked goods. With 2 forks, lift and pull peanut mixture into rectangle about 14x12 inches. Move it around as little as possible to maintain air bubbles within the peanut brittle. Cool.

After it cooled I picked up the pan a couple inches and let it drop to snap it into pieces.

Cinnamon & Cayenne Pepper Peanut Brittle
This recipe is found me stirring and stirring, waiting for the sugar to turn an amber color. The reliance on color, rather than temperature is a downfall for me, as candy/sugar takes on different properties at different temps and I don't have much experience cooking sugar. I ended up with peanut brittle that was overcooked, making a gritty feeling, and with flavors that were unbalanced and unappetizing. Maybe I should give it another shot without overcooking it, but I still give this recipe the thumbs down for the spices. The ingredients are below.

1 1/2 cups lightly salted, roasted peanuts
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
Vegetable oil, for coating the saucepan
 
Softened butter for spatulaIn a small bowl combine peanuts, cinnamon, and cayenne. Set aside.

Brush the inside of a medium sized heavy saucepan with vegetable oil. Add the sugar and water to the saucepan, cook over high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until it comes to a boil.

Stop stirring, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Uncover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the sugar is a light amber color.

Stir in peanuts. This will greatly reduce the temperature of the sugar so work quickly. Once evenly mixed, pour mixture onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking mat or buttered parchment paper.

Cool completely and then break into pieces. I never got around to taking a picture of it after I broke it, because I was too busy throwing it away. Like I saw before, this recipe didn't work for me and although I like the concept of cinnamon and cayenne pepper peanut brittle, it didn't balance well in this version. I did like the mix of almonds and peanuts though. Maybe next time.