Jalapeno peanut brittle is a delicious recipe with the perfect combination of flavors and tastes that makes your mouth linger with water. You can make this quick and lightning-fast holiday gift effortlessly for anyone you love.
This mildly spiced peanut brittle is a surprise twist to the classic comfort dish that the entire family will enjoy. Light, crispy confectionary loaded with peanuts with a hint of heat and a touch of jalapeno flavors.
About This Recipe
The flavors and heat of the jalapeno are not overpowering here. They are mild and delightful, and the heat will not hit the back of the throat.
Relish them as a snack or break them into bite-size pieces for your satisfying dessert. Nothing is better than the homemade, and this jalapeno peanut brittle is more delicious than anything you get from outside.
Want to make it vegan? Just swap the butter with vegan butter or canola oil. It tastes still as great as the original one. Do you like peanut brittle and have been thinking about getting into a reliable recipe for a while? You have landed on the right page.
These simple steps and procedures never fail to make a crispy, sweet, with a hint of jalapeno flavors.
Want to learn more about jalapeno cooking? this roasting jalapeno in 4 ways may provide you with great ideas.
How Spicy Is This Jalapeno Peanut Brittle?
This confectionery is sweet, crunchy, and crispy, balanced with the peanuts and jalapeno flavors. Jalapeno is added here for minimal heat and its unique, refreshing flavors.
Our aim in this recipe is to make peanut brittle with jalapeno flavors. Hence, they kept the heat minimized as far as possible. However, if you are making it so, add the jalapeno with the seeds according to the desired heat.
The jalapeno's color and taste in this peanut brittle intensifies after two days.
Other Jalapeno Recipes You May Like
How To Make Jalapeno Peanut Brittle?
The ingredients
Jalapeno. Fresh jalapeno is the one we needed to make a jalapeno peanut brittle recipe. However, you may use the frozen, oven-roasted jalapeno. Do not use the pickled jalapeno, as it will alter the taste of the sugar. Remove the white membrane and the seeds to make a soothing brittle.
Roasted peanuts. I used homemade roasted peanuts with skin on them, but you may use store-bought roasted peanuts as well. Our family is a big fan of peanuts, and I always have them stocked as raw in my pantry. Storing raw peanuts is handy, as I can toss them into any recipe.
Corn syrup. Corn syrup is added to avoid crystallization. This is an easy and fail-proof method for making perfect, crisp brittles.
Baking soda. An essential ingredient that makes the brittle light and airy.
Sugar. I have used regular granulated sugar. Light or dark brown sugar is another close substitute that delivers delicious candy.
Butter. Swap the dish with canola or other neutral-flavored cooking oil to make it vegan.
The Equipment
This jalapeno peanut brittle needs a hard crack stage, the final stage in making the syrup. Testing it is easy when compared to other sugar syrup stages.
But I highly recommend a candy thermometer if you make sugar syrup for the first time.
The Recipe Directions
Prepping. Grease a tray and a spatula. And set it ready.
The flavoring. In a heavy-bottomed pan, add butter and chopped jalapeno. Toss until jalapeno becomes soft.
Making the syrup. First, add sugar, corn syrup, and water and bring it to a rolling boil.
Turn to low-medium heat and stir until it reaches 300 degrees Fahrenheit or until it reaches a hard crack ball consistency. It took me 18 minutes to achieve this consistency.
If you make the jalapeno peanut brittle's syrup without a candy thermometer or are uncomfortable using the thermometer. Have a small bowl with water next to the pan. Add a drop of syrup from the pan to the bowl to test.
If the sugar droplet turns to balls that are hard to touch(unable to squeeze or break) as soon as it is dropped, this is the hard crack stage that is needed to make them brittle.
Be quick. Stir in the roasted peanuts and the baking soda quickly until combined.
Pour. Pour over the greased tray and spread with the spatula.
Cool. Allow it to cool down for about 20 minutes. Break them into smaller pieces and store them in an airtight container.
Pro tips.
- Both skin-on and skinless peanuts are excellent here. But I prefer to choose the skin for its dramatic final look of jalapeno peanut brittle.
- Make sure you make the syrup without burning on the sides.
- Use a silicone spatula to scrape the sides to avoid crystalization.
- The sugar syrup crystallizes as soon as it pours over the tray, so act quickly to spread it. If you find it is forming a thin sugar thread, sprinkle a couple of drops of water on it to smooth it out.
Variations
- Use the same jalapeno peanut brittle recipe, and substitute peanuts with almonds or pecans.
- Substitute jalapeno with green bell pepper for mild-flavored peanut brittle.
- Substitute jalapeno with habanero for the spicy version.
- Add bacon along with peanuts for the crunch and the punch.
- Sprinkle cajun seasoning for the aroma.
Frequently Asked Questions
We have removed the pith and the seeds in this recipe. Hence, this jalapeno peanut brittle is mildly hot. But if you plan to make a peanut brittle with a punch, add half of the jalapeno seeds and a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper for deep color.
Pro tip 1. Checking the consistency manually is also easy work here. If I can do it, you can also do it as well. We are not sweet-toothed and I hardly make desserts and candy at home. If I can achieve this result, you can also make it.
Pro tip 2. The hard crack consistency is the easier one to identify. Have a small water bowl next to your cooking station to test it. Add a droplet of sugar syrup into it; in the initial stages, it gets dissolved in the water, and later, it appears like jelly.
Pro tip 3. When the hot sugar syrup turns into balls, as soon as they are added to the water, test it by touching it to see if the ball is hard to crack or break. It is the correct stage for our brittle.
Pro tip 4. The sugar syrup quickly turns to each stage and cooks on low-medium heat to avoid disappointment.
Always store in an airtight container. It stays good for one week at room temperature. Refrigerate or freeze it to increase the use time.
📖 Recipe
Jalapeno Peanut Brittle
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup jalapenos remove pith and seeds-finely chopped
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup corn syrup
- 1 cup roasted peanuts unsalted and shelled/red skin or blanched
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Grease a sheet pan, and a spatula. And set aside.
- Over medium heat in a sauce pan add butter and chopped jalapeno.
- Saute until jalapeno becomes soft and tender.
- Then stir in sugar, corn syrup, and water. And bring to rolling boil.
- Then reduce the heat to medium-low. And cook till it reaches 300 degree Farenheit in candy thermameter or 'hard crack' stage(the stage when the sugar droplets turn to hard balls when dropped into a bowl of water).
- Add peanuts, baking soda.
- Whisk fast until peanuts combined with the syrup and quickly pour over the greased pan.
- Spread the mixture over ½ inch thickness using the spatula.
- Allow it to cool down for 20 minutes. And break into small pieces.
- Enjoy them as snack or with other desserts.
Tx99ag says
Looks delicious! Being a Texan, I am going to try making this using toasted pecans. If it works out, I hope to make some this Christmas to give as gifts. Thank you for the step-by-step pictures and hard-crack candy stage tips.
Donna says
Could dehydrated jalapeno peppers be used instead? Thanks
Sujatha Muralidhar says
Yes Donna. Though I have tried the dehydrated jalapeno peppers, I'm pretty confident that this new idea will be a success.
Sujatha Muralidhar says
Thank you! Toasted pecans sound amazing—perfect for a Texan twist! I hope your Christmas gifts turn out great!
Paul says
I used the whole jalapeño, and added 1/2 tbs cayenne. Good bite and great recipe!
Sujatha Muralidhar says
Sounds excellent, Paul! I like this!
Lois says
I'd like to add cayenne too. Did you add it along with the peanuts? Thanks.
Sujatha Muralidhar says
Add the cayenne pepper right after removing the peanut brittle mixture from the heat and just before pouring it onto the baking sheet. This way we can preserve the cayenne pepper's flavors too!
Kathy A Zogaria says
This was a Xmas gift for a friend and apparently is so good it's all gone and I got a request for more it's that good.
Sujatha Muralidhar says
I’m happy to know that this recipe was a hit, Kathy! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience!
Carole Ivison says
used 1heaping tablespoon oh jalapeno ground with about 1\2 of seeds...used induction burner. Started 170. We t to 180 after 10 minutes then 180 then 210. This was fabulous!!
Sujatha Muralidhar says
Hey thank you for your precise heat information. And happy you loved it too!!
Luanna says
This brittle is yummy. Will make again
Sujatha Muralidhar says
Luanna, very Happy that your like this recipe!
Donna Castro says
Good recipe and flavor, but no heat at all. We want heat!! please help.
Sujatha Muralidhar says
Donna, thank you for the feedback! If you’re craving more heat, try increasing the number of jalapeños(add them as whole), add Serrano peppers, or even a dash of cayenne pepper. Adjust to your spice preference—I’d love to hear how it turns out!