Pecan Brittle Recipe | My Baking Addiction (2024)

FAQs

Why is baking soda added to nut brittle? ›

Be sure to use a candy thermometer to ensure it reaches 300 degrees F or hard crack stage. What does baking soda do to peanut brittle? Adding a little baking soda aerates the peanut brittle causing it to expand slightly for a crunchy texture that won't break your teeth when you chew it.

This is a temperature issue. Make sure the candy reaches exactly 300ºF / 149ºC, which is hard crack stage, before pouring onto baking sheet. See “Equipment Used to Make Peanut Brittle” for my recommended thermometer. If you're peanut brittle is still chewy after it cools, you may be able to save it!

In a nonstick saucepan, heat and stir sugar, corn syrup, water and salt over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Over high heat, using a candy thermometer, cook sugar mixture to a hard crack stage (290 °F). Add pecans and butter and cook to 300 °F stirring all the time to keep the nuts from burning.

Why is it too hard? Using baking soda usually prevents peanut brittle from being too, well, brittle. However, if you cook the candy past the set temperature or overwork the candy once you spread it out onto the cookie sheet, that can cause it to become very hard and difficult to bite through.

The main reason why peanut brittle doesn't get hard and have the crunch we expect is because the sugar was not cooked long enough. The sugar needs to be cooked to what is called the hard crack stage, 300ºF.

If your peanut brittle is not hardening, it's because the sugar mixture did not get hot enough to properly caramelize, cool and become hard, crisp and crunchy. If you have this issue, next time, use a thermometer to make sure the peanut brittle mixture gets to 300°F.

Pralines have a lot in common with nut brittle, with the difference being mostly in the addition of cream and the cooking temperature––the sugary syrup used to coat pralines is heated to a soft-ball consistency, a lower temperature than the hard-crack stage of peanut brittle.

If you beat too long, the candy will seize and start to crumble. If you don't beat it long enough, then pralines won't set properly and will stay soft and sticky. Work quickly to drop heaping tablespoons of pecan praline mixture onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Humidity above these values can cause kernel molding and pecan texture deterioration (pecans become soft and rubber-like), whereas lower humidities will cause excessive drying. In-shell pecan kernels will darken under high humidity as a result of the tannic acid being dissolved from the shell lining.

However, if properly stored in an airtight container, it can stay fresh for three months. What is the best way to store this product? We recommend storing our Brittle inside an airtight container, at room temperature, and away from moisture.

Is brittle the same as toffee? ›

In cooking brittle, the baking soda is added right before the candy is poured, while toffee is cooked longer after the soda is added. This lets much of the carbon dioxide escape, leaving the toffee less brittle. In the end, they are cooked in much the same way, but with a few key differences.

Store the brittle in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month to maintain the crisp. Moisture in the refrigerator would soften the brittle.

You will want the cookie sheet to be non-stick. Use parchment paper, a silicone baking sheet or a greased cookie sheet. Spread the peanut brittle as thin as you can. Immediately add your sea salt.

Didn't get it hot enough. You have to hit hard crack stage heat or it's not going to harden. From internet: Hard-Crack Stage is a cooking term meaning that a sugar syrup being heated has reached 149 – 154 C (300 – 310 F.) It is a test of how hot a sugar syrup is, and of how much water is left in it.

What's important to know is that the corn syrup controls the grain of the brittle so adding too little and you have a grainy textured brittle, while adding too much will result in a stringy and sticky brittle.

Is baking soda or powder best for frying? A pinch of baking soda can help produce crispy fried foods. It reacts with the acid in the batter to create carbon dioxide bubbles. These lead to an airy batter and a crisper, fluffier result.

Formally known as sodium bicarbonate, it's a white crystalline powder that is naturally alkaline, or basic (1). Baking soda becomes activated when it's combined with both an acidic ingredient and a liquid. Upon activation, carbon dioxide is produced, which allows baked goods to rise and become light and fluffy (1).

The soda reacts with the acid to make bubbles, and the syrup foams. When the cooked syrup is poured out and begins to harden, many of the tiny bubbles are trapped before they can escape (another reason the baking soda is added at the end).

Add Baking Soda to Water

A temporary fix, but one that works. In a bathtub, add around ½ cup of baking soda. Although baking soda cannot soften the water fully, it, being alkaline, changes the pH of hard water to make it more suitable for skin and hair.