• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Cookbooks On Repeat
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Food Diary (Vlogs)
  • Tools, Tips & Tricks
  • About

Pistachio Brittle | Easy Holiday Treats | Alison Roman

December 22, 2020 by admin 8 Comments

Pistachio brittle on plate with towel and nuts.

Last Christmas, I received a delightful cookie box in the mail from my sister in law. What a lovely treat! Everything in it was great but what shines in my memory was the pistachio brittle she tucked in there like little shards of nutty, crunchy heaven. It was salty, sweet, crisp but melt in your mouth with lots of complex caramel notes. I didn’t waste any time texting her for the recipe and was surprised to find out it was an Alison Roman recipe but vintage A. R. (circa 2012) before she blew up. OF COURSE it’s from her, I thought.

Jump to Recipe

Make pistachio brittle for a last minute sweet gift or treat!

Brittle held in hand. Plate and sheet pan behind.
Brittle is great for cookie boxes and cookie swaps! I love the salty sweet crunch of this pistachio brittle.

This pistachio brittle is very easy as long as you do two things:

  • Use a candy thermometer. It can be hard to gauge when sugar is cooked to the right “stage” so it will harden correctly.
  • Have your ingredients prepped and measured out.

Caramel keeps on cooking, even after you turn off the heat, so it’s best to not waste time with measuring and fussing with ingredients. Also, since you’re working with hot, molten sugar, work safe and have your ingredients at the ready when you need them.

Watch the video here!

Didn’t have time to make cookies? With only a small handful of ingredients, you could make this for Santa’s treat in less than 20 minutes. As soon as it’s cool enough to handle, you break it into pieces and you’re done! Incidentally, this will make enough to treat Santa, you and the neighbors, if you’re willing to share.

Don’t have a candy thermometer?

Bowl of sugar, candy thermometer, pistachios, butter and salt with spatula.

Can you make pistachio brittle without a candy thermometer? A few solutions: use a laser temperature probe or good digital instant read thermometer. Either needs to be able to measure up to 400 F. Another way would be to use the cold water candy test. This is the old-fashioned way of gauging cooked sugar but it works (see notes in recipe card). If you want to use this method, you want to cook the sugar to the hard crack stage.

Don’t want to use pistachios?

Maybe you have a nut allergy or don’t want to shell out on expensive pistachios? Seeds like sunflower, pumpkin, flax and chia would make great substitutes. Any other nuts like almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pecans or a mixture would be delicious. Dried fruits like apricots, cranberries, raisins would work too. Or you could go extra fancy and add dried rose petals, lavender or saffron. It’s a blank, sweet canvas- go wild!

This post contains affiliate links for Amazon Associates. At no cost to you, I may earn a very small commission if you choose to purchase through them. Please know I only recommend products I use and love! Thank you for supporting the work I do.

Pistachio brittle on plate with pine cones and pine branches.
print recipe
5 from 2 votes

Pistachio Brittle

Salty, crunchy and sweet. This pistachio brittle makes the easiest and quickest holiday treat. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool! Great for a last minute homemade sweet even Santa would love.
Course Candy and Treats
Keyword Alison Roman, brittle, candy making, cookie box treat, holiday treats, homemade candy, pistachios
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings 16

Ingredients

  • vegetable oil spray (or neutral oil or butter)
  • 1 cup (200 g) sugar
  • ½ cup (100 ml) light corn syrup (or golden syrup or brown rice syrup)
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1 cup (140 g) pistachios, raw, shelled and unsalted
  • 1 tablespoon butter, unsalted
  • 1 teaspoon salt, kosher (or to taste)
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • course salt (such as Maldon, fleur de sel or more kosher salt) for garnishing

Method

  • Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat. Spray with non-stick spray or brush with oil or butter. Set aside.
  • In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water. Cook over medium heat, whisking to combine. Fit a candy thermometer into saucepan. Stirring often, bring to a boil and cook until mixture reaches 290°F (140°C).
  • Add pistachios, butter and salt to pan. Stir to combine (mixture will seize up at first but then loosen again). Continue cooking until caramel turns a pale amber brown (about 300°F/148°C) and nuts smell toasty. Off heat, add the baking soda and stir in quickly (it will bubble up a bit).
  • Quickly pour the caramel onto the prepared baking sheet. Using an offset spatula or heatproof rubber spatula (greased with a little cooking spray or butter) spread out as thinly as possible. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt (to taste) and leave to cool completely. Once cool, break brittle into pieces. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

-if you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can see if the sugar mixture has gotten to 290F (140C) by doing the cold water check for hard crack stage: drop a small spoonful of the mixture into ice cold water. Fish it out and attempt to bend it. If it cracks when you bend it, you’re at the hard crack stage. If not, continue cooking and check again in a few minutes. 
-corn syrup may be substituted with golden syrup or brown rice syrup.
-substitute any other nuts or seeds you prefer to use for the pistachios.
-after cooking caramel, fill pot with hot water and place over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Pot should be easy to clean after caramel has melted into the water.
-recipe adapted from Alison Roman for Epicurious magazine.
 
Pistachio brittle pinterest graphic.

Filed Under: Baking & Desserts, Blog Tagged With: brittle, candy making, homemade candy, nut brittle, pistachio brittle

Previous Post: « Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes (made in a Stand Mixer!)
Next Post: Baked, Spiced Sweet Potato Wedges with Romesco Sauce | Vegan »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kim

    December 24, 2020 at 4:11 pm

    Oh my this sounds delicious! I love pistachios and haven’t made brittle in many years so I have to give this a try even! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • admin

      January 5, 2021 at 12:34 pm

      Thanks for checking out my blog! Hope you give it a try.

      Reply
  2. Wendy

    December 24, 2020 at 4:57 pm

    Yum! Just reading this makes my teeth hurt😂 but seriously, what a yummy recipe.

    Reply
    • admin

      January 5, 2021 at 12:37 pm

      Lol, it’s worth it, I think.

      Reply
  3. Cindy

    December 24, 2020 at 6:12 pm

    Oh yum! This would make a perfect snack and a wonderful gift. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
    • admin

      January 5, 2021 at 12:37 pm

      Thanks for reading!

      Reply
  4. oxJadpsT

    January 2, 2021 at 11:54 pm

    5 stars
    IUyOuSspElnXi

    Reply
  5. EUsaLOHxi

    February 14, 2021 at 3:45 pm

    5 stars
    emiunfPBsIpdVMx

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Recipes tested from cookbooks and from life. Recipes to cook again and again.

Professional chef, recipe developer and lover of cookbooks. I can’t pass up a cookbook without thumbing through it’s pages.  Find out more about me here.

Watch my latest video!

https://youtu.be/3hpS1t1m0js

Footer

My Current Favorites

Fish and cucumber salad on plate. Salad in salad bowl. Two tostadas. Recipe from Cook This Book, Molly Baz.
Box with frozen meat pieces in front of it.
Mixed berry crisp in pan with spoon. Serving in a small bowl with ice cream.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Copyright © 2025 Cookbooks On Repeat on the Foodie Pro Theme