Homemade gifts are always welcome, and this crunchy nut brittle is a particular favourite of ours. Choose a combination of peanuts, pecans, hazelnuts and/or cashews for the nut mixture, choosing nuts of a similar size so they toast evenly.
MAKES: about 30 pieces
PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOKING TIME: 25 minutes
SETTING TIME: about 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 cups mixed nuts (see above)
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup water
- ⅓ cup liquid honey
- ½ tsp baking soda
- Fleur de sel or coarse sea salt for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat the oven to 300°F. Spread the nuts out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Toast in the oven, stirring occasionally, just until the nuts are golden and fragrant, 7 to 10 minutes. Set aside.
- Line a second large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, water and honey. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted.
- Hook a candy thermometer over the side of the saucepan. Keeping the heat at medium-low, bring the sugar mixture to a boil, then boil, without stirring, until the caramel is golden brown and the candy thermometer registers 310ºF, about 12 minutes. (If you don’t have a candy thermometer, drop a little of the mixture into a bowl of cold water. If it forms a hard ball, it’s ready.)
- Immediately stir in the baking soda (the caramel will foam up). Moving quickly, stir in the nuts then scrape the mixture out onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Using the back of a large spoon, spread the nut mixture out as thinly as you can. Sprinkle generously with fleur de sel.
- Let stand at room temperature until cool and hardened, about 30 minutes. Break the brittle into small chunks. (The nut brittle can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature, with wax paper between the layers, for several weeks.)
BAKING DAY SECRETS:
- To save time, use roasted, salted nuts for the Nut Brittle and skip Step 1 of the recipe. Sprinkle the finished brittle sparingly with salt to compensate for the extra salt in the nuts.
