Jan 3 Peanut Brittle

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 2 cups raw peanuts
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Peanut brittle is another one of my holiday favorites. Like the caramel, this is a recipe that comes from one of my great-aunts. It uses raw peanuts, meaning peanuts that have been shelled but not yet roasted. The wonderful thing is that the peanuts roast as you're making the candy. I think it's delicious.

I placed the sugar and syrup in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat and stirred until the sugar had dissolved, then added in the peanuts. I let that cook, occasionally both stirring and washing down the sides of the pan with water until it reached a nice golden brown color and read around 290° on a candy thermometer.

I then added the butter and vanilla, stirring to incorporate. I added the soda, stirring quickly, and immediately poured the candy out on a buttered baking sheet. I spread the candy as thin as I could get it. Both the bubbles formed by the soda and the thinness of the candy help make it brittle, so I wanted it as thin as possible. As the candy cooled slightly and became taffy-like instead of liquid, I also used a pair of forks to pull the edges out from the center and make it slightly thinner still.

Once the candy had cooled completely, I broke it into rough pieces that would fit neatly inside of a mason jar, since, like the caramel, that's what I had decided to use for packaging up my gifts.