Pecan Brittle Recipe With A Twist

I have something a little different this morning. I love to cook and I love to develop new recipes occasionally. As Christmas approaches I spend a lot of time in the kitchen making things I rarely cook at any other time. Much of what I make is for gifts, a perfect excuse to indulge a little. My real specialty is breads of all kinds, but I do a lot of other things, including candy.

I have never really liked using corn syrup in peanut/pecan brittle, so when I was given a jar of some homegrown molasses, I decided to experiment a little. I’ll have to say it was a fantastic success. I suspect molasses could be substituted agreeably in most recipes as long as it did not cause a flavor clash. Here is the modified recipe. Enjoy and don’t forget to share!

Merry Christmas

 

Pecan Molasses Brittle

Important note – when making candy, you must have clear weather with relatively low humidity or it will not harden properly. Do not try this when it’s raining! It will be a gooey mess.

2 C sugar

1 C molasses

½ C water

3 C raw pecans, whole

1 tblsp. butter

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsps soda

 

Combine sugar, molasses, and water in a large sauce pan; cook over med low heat until mixture comes to a boil. Add pecans and cook until candy thermometer registers 290 F, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add butter, salt, vanilla and soda, mixing well. Spread thinly onto two buttered cookie sheets. Cool and break into pieces. Yield – about 2 pounds

Depending on your stove, you may need to raise the heat setting in small increments to get 290 F. Keep it slow. This both cooks out the water in all the ingredients and roasts the nuts. If you try to cook it too fast, it will burn.