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The title of this post sounds like an oxymoron but that is okay because I know there are some out there that want to eat candy (who doesn’t!?) but the indulgence is too much for their teeth (or body). Welcome to my healthy peanut brittle recipe. It is definitely a family favorite and is a great recipe to make for the health conscious individuals for the holiday season or any time of year.
How could a thing like Peanut Brittle be healthy? Well, this peanut brittle welcomes the duo of natural sweeteners, coconut sugar and maple syrup, which means no refined sugar. This makes it lower on the glycemic scale and still has some of the unrefined nutrients we need (vitamins, minerals, fiber, and those great things antioxidants!). Fun fact: Coconut sugar naturally contains potassium, magnesium, and sodium so it is a natural electrolyte balancer.
There are many do’s and dont’s of peanut brittle, I could write a whole post just on that but here are the major points (don’t skip through reading these!):
Make sure the sauce pot you are using is completely clean, dry and free of any debris. If you aren’t sure, give it a good scrub, rinse & dry. This will prevent weird things from happening to the sugar.
Do NOT walk away from your pot. I know, the sugar takes about 30 minutes to get to temp (most cases) but this does not excuse you from leaving the pot to multitask. The time it takes it to go from 200-285 is sometimes seconds. I usually stand nearby calmly drinking my shot of espresso, checking every few seconds.
Use a candy thermometer. This will save you from guessing or trying to do the old fashion trick of using ice water to figure out what stage it is at (nobody does this anymore). Because coconut sugar has a lower melting point (306) than white table sugar (368), it does not need to get to the usual “hard crack” stage of hard candy making.
What thermometer would I suggest? See the link below:
Keep your burner consistently at medium heat and do not touch the dial. This will prevent the sugar from burning too quickly or never getting up to temp.
Do NOT stir while the mixture is getting up to temp. This can create air bubbles and crystalize your sugar. Only stir if you MUST before the mixture gets to the hot stove to make sure you don’t have any clumps.
While you are waiting for the pot to come to temp, have all of your remaining ingredients (peanuts, peanut butter, earth balance, baking soda, salt, vanilla) mise en placed (portioned out & ready to be thrown into the pot) so you can quickly stir everything in and get the mix poured out onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet (make sure this is ready too). Have a heat proof spatula nearby too.
Pot Cleaning tips: As soon as your pot is empty of sticky brittle mixture, fill it with hot water from the sink. Let it sit for a minute while you are spreading your brittle mix. When you are satisfied with your brittle, come back to your pot, get it back on the stove and turn it on high til it boils. This will melt the remaining sugar in the pot so you have less clean up later. Have some stuck on brittle mix that won’t budge? Throw a tablespoon of baking soda in the water and repeat the boiling process.
CAUTION: Hot sugar at most hot temps will burn your skin and cause 2nd or 3rd degree burns. Avoid this at all costs. Once in culinary school, I decided running a hot pot of burning hot sugar 50 feet to the sink was a great idea. It wasn’t and my ankle had third degree burns, my parents had to come pick me up in Chicago as I could barely walk (but pretended I was fine in front of other classmates, what is wrong with me?). My skin blew up like a balloon and filled with liquid. Too much information (and you thought this was just a post about brittle)? Keep your skin far away from hot substances, kiddos.
Healthy Peanut Brittle (Vegan & Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 155 g coconut sugar
- 65 g maple syrup
- 60 g water
- 140 g roasted unsalted peanuts
- 1 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
- 1 Tbsp Earth Balance Buttery Spread (room temperature)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp Himalayan pink salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (not imitation)
Instructions
- Grab a medium quart saucepan that is completely clean & free of debris. Combine your coconut sugar, maple syrup, water in pot, stir until no clumps are present. Bring pot to stove and turn on medium heat. Put your candy thermometer in the pot so the tip of the thermometer is fully submerged. Do NOT stir at this point.
- While that is coming to temperature, prepare the remainder of your ingredients. In one bowl, portion out your peanuts, peanut butter, earth balance, baking soda & salt. In another bowl, portion your vanilla extract.
- Line the bottom of a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silpat. I like to drizzle or spray a little neutral oil on it (this is optional, it should not stick either way, I am just paranoid!)
- At this point, your thermometer should be reaching near 200. Again, do not walk away from your pot for any reason at this point. It will come up to temp very quickly when you least expect it.
- When the thermometer reaches 280, turn the burner off, take your pot off the heat and quickly start throwing in the remainder of the ingredients. Stir with a heat proof spatula until ingredients are incorporated thoroughly (this should take less than 30 seconds).
- Pour mixture onto lined sheet pan and using your spatula spread out as thinly as you can. When brittle cools for a minute or two, you can use your hands to further spread it out. I like when mine is really thin.
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