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.
Yield: 16
Equipment
- candy thermometer
Materials
- 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
Instructions
- 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.