Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Combine the sugar, brown sugar, salt, corn syrup, and water into a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Stir over medium heat until all of the sugar is dissolved.
- Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the syrup begins to boil. Stir in the butter.
- If using a candy thermometer, clip it to the side of the pan. Continue cooking, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 230°F (110°C). Cook and stir until the mixture reaches 280°F (137°C). Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Stir in the peanuts (or other nuts).
- Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture reaches 300°F (149°C). Make sure to stir enough to keep the nuts from touching the bottom of the pan too long, or they might scorch. Immediately remove the pan from the heat.
- Quickly stir in the baking soda. Mix well.
- Pour onto greased baking sheets or parchment paper. Spread the mixture evenly. Using two forks, stretch the candy as it cools by lifting it and pulling.
- Once the candy has cooled to room temperature, break it into pieces. Store at room temperature.
Notes
You can use other nuts than peanuts as long as they are raw. Using toasted or roasted nuts risks burning them from the heat of the sugar.
The recipe is scaled to take all of a single pint bottle of light corn syrup, so you don’t need to worry about weighing it. Just empty the bottle into the pot with the sugars.
