Easy, delicious Microwave Peanut Brittle recipe ready in 10 minutes! Old fashioned candy made with simple ingredients in the microwave or on the stove top.
We love old fashioned candy recipes. Try our salted nut roll or almond bars for a delicious treat. Or learn how to make fudge with our tips and tricks!
Table of Contents
Why this Candy is Best
Making homemade candy doesn’t have to be hard.
Peanut brittle is a similar to toffee with peanuts. Whether you’re looking for a simple Christmas candy to share, or a dessert for your family you’ve got to try our peanut brittle.
- Made with simple ingredients.
- Stays crunchy for weeks.
- Perfect to give as gifts for the holidays.
- Can be made in the microwave in minutes, or on the stove top!
Broken pieces of peanut brittle are delicious on our homemade vanilla ice cream too!
Try our homemade kit kat recipe next!
Ingredient Notes
- Dry roasted peanuts– we prefer the lightly salted variety. But you can swap them out for cashews and make cashew brittle too!
- Corn Syrup– adds sweetness and ensures that the texture of the candy does not turn grainy.
- Baking soda– adds air bubbles to the brittle, creating the perfect texture!
PRO TIP- We love making our own homemade vanilla extract, but if using store bought, be sure it’s pure extract, not imitation (for best flavor).
Tips and Tricks
- The bowl gets very hot. You’ll see I recommend using hot pads. Learn from my mistake and always use them.
- Finally, clean up. The brittle hardens in the glass bowl very quickly. Fill with HOT water and allow to soak until you can scrub it off.
- Store peanut brittle in an airtight container (or ziploc bag) at room temperature for up to three weeks. We prefer not to freeze brittle as it changes the texture and makes it chewy not crunchy.
Make Peanut Brittle on the Stove Top
Yes, you can also make this on the stove top if you prefer.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper like above.
- Using a heavy 2 quart saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil the sugar, corn syrup, and add 1/4 cup water.
- Stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture is boiling. Reduce heat to medium.
- Stir in peanuts. Set a candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.
- Remove from heat and immediately stir in butter, vanilla, and baking soda. Pour onto baking sheet and spread to desired thickness. Break into pieces when completely cooled.
Recipe FAQs
Peanut brittle may not get to the crunchy state if it’s not cooked long enough or the baking soda was not added. Also be sure when storing there is no moisture in the container.
If your brittle gets stuck in the bowl, add water to the bowl and microwave for 1-2 minutes. This will help soften the brittle so you can scrub it off.
Adding baking powder to the peanut brittle is key to releasing tiny air bubbles into the candy. This helps create the perfect texture.
More Easy Candy Recipes
- If you love Caramel deLites or Samoa Girl Scout Cookies, then these easy Samoa Truffles are going to drive your taste buds crazy!
- Rich, decadent, copycat Fannie May Fudge. It’s the perfect chocolate fudge recipe for any time of year, no candy thermometer needed!
- If you’ve never tried Saltine Toffee, now is the time! Crispy, buttery toffee with crackers, pecans and chocolate. So easy to make, too!
- Looking for the easiest fudge recipe? Today’s Easy Rocky Road Fudge is your answer. And it’s absolutely delicious too!
- Nobody will guess that this sweet toffee starts with graham crackers. Brickle Bars are the next best thing to homemade candy!
Microwave Peanut Brittle
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup peanuts dry roasted, salted
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Lay a piece of parchment paper over a large cookie sheet. Set aside.
- Combine sugar and corn syrup in a 2qt. glass bowl. Microwave (on power level 7) for 4 minutes. {I use a 1500watt microwave}
- Remove and stir in peanuts quickly using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Return to microwave and heat for 3 ½ minutes (on power level 7).
- Remove and stir in butter and vanilla extract. Return to microwave for an additional 1 ½ minutes (on power level 7).
- Remove and stir in baking soda, mixing until light and foamy. Pour over parchment paper and spread to desired thickness, working quickly.
- Allow peanut brittle to set and harden at room temperature (about 2 hours). Break into desired sized pieces and store in an airtight container for up to one week.
Just a quick note, when you are talking about the ingredients and what they do for the brittle, you say Baking Powder, (but the picture says soda) when I saw that I thought “I always thought is was baking soda”, then in the recipe you have it as soda, not powder.
Anyway, this is perfect, easy and oh so tasty!
Thanks,
Gah thank you for catching that. Late night editing gone wrong, ha!
Is power level 7 the same as high or 100% power?
Aimee I was just wondering, you say power level 7 on your 1500 watt microwave. Would that be the same for a 1200 watt?
I live in the South, humidity makes a huge difference with any brittles. Ideally this peanut brittle works best on the lowest day of humidity. Don’t try if it is raining or recently rained, it will be “sticky” and chewy not “crisp”. I was raised in the West, never had this problem, even experienced cooks have to learn about weather and how it effects everything.
I have an older microwave and I am not sure of the wattage. It also doesn’t have the option of setting a power level. What would you suggest for timing?
I was making peanut brittle and dropped my eyeglasses in the boiler. How can I get the sticky hardened candy off my glasses?
Just soak the glasses. Sugar is super water soluble so it’ll melt off within minutes of you soaking or rinsing them in water water.
Can’t wait to make this! It looks so easy and delicious! Thanks!!
That is awesome! I’ll have to try this out. 🙂
Oh this is so great! I love peanut brittle 🙂
Great idea! Peanut Brittle is something I’ve never bothered to try making, assuming that it would be too much effort. But now I have no excuse!
This sounds so easy and yummy! Definitely going on my to-do list! Thanks Aimee : )
Liz