Who knew?

For the last 20 years I've shied away from making any kind of candy that required a candy thermometer. I tried making a pecan log shortly after I was married. To this day I don't know what went wrong, but a sledge hammer wouldn't have made a dent in the hardwood I created. I decided for the sake of our dental health to stay away from future endeavors of the candy making variety. That is until a favorite friend of mine presented me with some See's Peanut Brittle last week. When she gave me the box I asked her if I needed to share it with my husband. (He was on a business trip at the time.) She implied that, yes, it would be a good idea if I saved some for his return. I believe there were four puny pieces remaining in the box when he came home. I offered him two. I felt a little guilty after that and decided I would ignore my candy making ban and try my hand at creating some peanut brittle. After perusing the internet I realized that most peanut brittle recipes are exactly the same. I used this one at allrecipes.com. I doubled the recipe, which made a full cookie sheet of the scrumptious stuff!

I am not a fan of thin, hard peanut brittle. I like the thicker more air-filled variety and this recipe was just the ticket! Never having made it before, I was surprised how long it took to have the temperature of the sugary mixture rise to 300 degrees. I stood stirring that sweet concoction for the better side of 20 minutes in order for it to reach the desired temperature. (That may be due to the high altitude where we live.)

When the sugary mixture reached the correct temperature I poured it into a cookie sheet and waited for it to cool...

I was a little reluctant to taste it (fearing the worst), but when I gathered the courage to give it a try it was incredibly delicious. Incredibly. Delicious. 

If any of you out there thought making peanut brittle would be tricky, rest assured, it's not. This recipe is sure to become a family tradition!

I used lightly salted dry roasted peanuts because I love sweet/salty mixtures. The only thing I would do differently than the recipe indicates is add a few more peanuts! 

Delicious! 

For those unaware, "Just Another Hang Up" made it to Round 5 for the Top Blog of 2010. If you feel inclined please vote for my blog on The Blog Guidebook's Top Blog of 2010 contest by leaving a comment on this post. I would appreciate it! Please remember that you can't vote "anonymously". If you don't have a blogger account, you must put in your name. Two blogs are duking it out for first place, but I wouldn't mind a few votes either. ;o) Thanks so much!

Have a wonderful day!