Corn Syrup Free Peanut Brittle
A sweet, crunchy, salty, peanut-packed treat, but this recipe is made without corn syrup! Our Corn Syrup Free Peanut Brittle is everything you love about this classic treat but without any of the unnecessary additives!
Bring on all of the homemade candy! We absolutely love the buttery sweet crunch of a good brittle candy, but wanted to make one that was without the added processed ingredients, so we have for you our Corn Syrup Free Peanut Brittle! Everything you love about a sweet, buttery, crunchy peanut brittle, but made without corn syrup!
Ingredients Needed
- Salted Peanuts – Roasted salted is the best for this recipe to give the right salty crunch!
- White Sugar, Water, and Cream of Tartar – This is what you’ll need for the corn syrup substitute.
- More Sugar – You’ll need more sugar for the brittle, too.
- Butter – Salted Butter is what we use so there’s no need to add any extra salt, but you can of course use unsalted and then add a pinch of salt.
- Baking Soda – Just a touch at the end to help create little bubbles that will help to add to the crunch – this is a key ingredient to getting the right signature brittle crunch!
Equipment Needed
For candy-making, having the right equipment is key! Here’s what you’re going to need (and why!) for this corn syrup free peanut brittle recipe.
- Thermometer – Having a good thermometer is going to make your candy-making life so much easier. Having an instant-read digital thermometer around will help with a lot of cooking and baking (even breads!) and this one is a great candy thermometer. This one from ThermoWorks is the one I have and absolutely love. It allows you to set a temp alarm so that it will alert you when you have reached the temperature you need.
- Heavy-Bottomed Pan – A heavy-bottomed pan means that the bottom of the pan is thicker than the sides of the pan. This will ensure a better heat distribution while you’re making your candy. We recommend using a medium to large stainless steel saucepan for this recipe. This will allow for room when it all bubbles/foams when you add your butter. We love our Made In Pans for this.
- High heat spatula – Because you’re getting your brittle up to the hard crack stage of over 300 degrees, you want to make sure that you have a spatula that’s going to hold up to that high of a heat.
- Food grade gloves – These are optional, but you’re working with high-temperature liquids, and trust me, it burns (literally) if you get any of it on you in the process. So to protect yourself (and little ones if they’re helping), wearing gloves will prevent against any burns.
What is Corn Syrup and Why is it (or a sub) Needed?
Corn Syrup is a key ingredient to candy making because it prevents the sugar from crystalizing (think rock candy), which is what will allow the brittle to set. But what is corn syrup and why is it (or a substitute) important? Simply, corn syrup is a kind of invert sugar and so in order to make a suitable substitute for it in your candy recipe, you just need to make another invert sugar.
What is Invert Sugar? Invert sugar is a liquid sugar where the fructose and glucose molecule chemical bonds have been broken and so then a thick syrup is formed. This is done by heating the sugar until those chemical bonds are broken, which is aided by the addition of some acid, like the cream of tartar, which is why that is a key ingredient for this corn syrup substitute. Once you’ve created your own invert sugar (a nice thick syrup), you have a great corn syrup substitute!
Create the Candy
Once you have that corn syrup substitute, it’s just a matter of adding the remaining sugar and water and bringing it all up to temperature.
Now it’s time to work quickly and remove the pan from the heat and add the butter, stir, and then add the peanuts. Adding that butter will create it all to foam, don’t worry, that’s totally normal!
Once the peanuts are in, you’ll want to quickly pour that out onto your parchment paper-lined baking sheet and spread to an even layer, then let it sit in a cool dry place to set and is completely cool.
Once cool, add another layer of parchment paper on top, and use a rolling pin or the back or the end of a sharpening tool and give it a gentle tap to break it into pieces for your own homemade, Corn Syrup Free Peanut Brittle!
Peanut Brittle Making Tips
The first thing to do is to have all of the ingredients measured and ready to go. Because parts of this recipe can move quickly, you’ll want to have everything on hand exactly when you need them. Plus, you especially want to make sure you have room-temperature butter ready because adding cold butter from the fridge will affect the temperature sensitive candy.
This means that you did not heat the sugar and water to the right temperature. The hard crack stage for candies is 300 – 310 degrees F.
The baking soda is a key ingredient to getting that crunch! It adds little air bubbles which gives peanut brittle its delicate crunch.
The humidity in your air will affect the humidity in your candy, ultimately making it less crispy.
This homemade corn syrup free peanut brittle recipe is a great base for other nut brittles, too! Use almonds or cashews, or a combination of your favorite nuts!
Corn Syrup Free Peanut Brittle! The ultimate crunchy sweet and salty treat!
How to Store Peanut Brittle
It’s best to store homemade peanut brittle in an airtight container in a cool dry place. Add a layer of parchment paper between the brittle pieces in your container and it’ll keep for up to 2 months! This makes it a great make-ahead edible gift! We do not recommend storing it in the fridge unless you live in a high-humidity area.
Enjoy! As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I love to hear what you think! Leave a comment below, email me, or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
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Corn Syrup Free Peanut Brittle
Equipment
- rubber gloves optional
Ingredients
Corn Syrup Substitute
- 1 cup sugar 195 g
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Peanut Brittle
- corn syrup substitute
- 1 1/2 cups sugar 298 g
- 1/2 cup water
- 5 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups salted peanuts
Instructions
- Prep: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Set aside all of your ingredients so they are ready to go because once the candy comes up to temperature, you need to move quickly.
- Create Corn Syrup Sub: Add sugar, cream of tartar, and water to a medium-sized bowl and whisk so that all of the sugar is dissolved. Once the sugar is all dissolved, turn the heat to medium, continuing to whisk. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a strong simmer to thicken into a syrup, stirring often for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat to stop the syrup from simmering before continuing.
- Add More Sugar and Water: To the same pot, add 1/2 cup of water and another 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Turn heat to medium again, whisk the sugar syrup and the water and added sugar so that the new sugar dissolves as it is all brought to a boil, but then reduce the heat to medium-low and bring to a gentle boil.
- Let Boil and Come up to Temp: Let it all gently boil. As it does, it will turn a golden brown color. Use a high-heat spatula to stir it in the pan to reduce burning on the bottom of the pan. Bring to 305-310 degrees F remove the pan from the heat.
- Finish Brittle: Working quickly, add butter and baking soda to the hot pan, and stir with the spatula until the butter has melted (it will foam, that's normal!) and then immediately add the peanuts and give it a quick stir. Quickly pour contents onto parchment paper and spread into an even layer. It is important to do this while everything is still hot.
- Let Cool: Set baking sheet aside in a cool dry place to cool and set.
- Crack the brittle: Once the peanut brittle has completely cooled, take another sheet of parchment paper and cover it. Use your fist, or the end of a kitchen sharpening tool to gently tap the top of the parchment paper, break up the peanut brittle underneath into desired sized pieces.
- Enjoy!
Can I make a large batch of the corn syrup substitute to use for later and store it in a jar?
It turned out better than expected! Smooth, brittle & salty buttery deliciousness. I got a phone call. Put her on speaker phone and finished up. The temp actually came up to 318! So kind if left her hanging while I poured it on the sheet!
This recipe is a keeper!
This is great to hear, Andrea! Thanks so much for sharing!
Does the cream of tartar keep the sugar water from crystallizing? Also, is it possible to make the sugar water in advance and store in pantry or fridge to use as a replacement for corn syrup in other recipes?
The concept is great but sadly it came out way too hard. followed the recipe to a t.
Hi Keri, so sorry that happened. Sometimes if the temp goes even just a little too high or if it’s mixed too much before setting it can cause it to be too hard.
This recipe looks amazing! Did anyone tried substituting the regular sugar with date sugar?
Hello Tracy, why do you make the substitute syrup first then add water and sugar? Why not start from all the sugar and water? Thanks.
Hi Charles! Good question! You want to make the substitute syrup first because by doing this, it becomes an invert sugar (which is what corn syrup is) and that is necessary for a nice smooth texture of the brittle. If you skip that step, while you can still likely make brittle, it’s not going to have that nice smooth signature brittle texture. 🙂
My hubby loves brittle and my question is can I use swerve 1:1 ratio in replacement of regular sugar?
Hi Heather! I’m sorry, I’ve never used swerve before so I’m not sure if it will work or not.
I love peanut brittles! I remember we used to buy this in another city. The best recipe for peanuts!
It’s definitely the best way to use peanuts!
Thank you so much for this recipe!! My husband is allergic to corn so I’m excited to make this for him. I just found your website and am so excited because I have to cook from scratch to avoid corn (it is in everything!!). Using these principles for replacing corn syrup I will be able to make other candies for him, too.
Welcome!! SO happy you’re here and cannot wait to hear what you think of our recipes. Enjoy!!