Soft Peanut Brittle

A couple of weeks ago my in-laws went up to Spokane and brought back some candy that I never heard of- soft peanut brittle, and oh my gosh was it fabulous! It came from a candy shop at the famous Davenport hotel that is apparently known for it. I'm shocked. I spent years living in Spokane and had no idea that this perfect little confection was right in my backyard.

Well, that little box they brought home is long gone and I thought I'd try to whip up a batch, it turned out great and you're gonna love it. Think of it as a big mess of the crunchy part of a Butterfinger bar scattered with peanuts.

Round up your ingredients:
2 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
2 cups salted peanuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Start heating the peanut butter over medium heat in a double boiler. Wouldn't it figure, I don't have a double boiler. So I make do with a regular pot of water with a bowl stuck in the top.

While that is warming up and getting all creamy, combine the sugar and water in another pot over med-high hear. Stir it constantly. Once it starts to bubble, add the corn syrup.

Continue to stir the sugar mixture. It'll start to boil and that's ok. Keep a candy thermometer in the pot. You want it to get to hard crack stage. Just before it gets to that point, dump in the vanilla and stir.


In the meantime, add the peanuts to the peanut butter and stir it all together.


Once your sugar mixture reaches hard crack stage, turn off the heat. This is where you are gonna need to work fast. Combine the PB mixture, the baking soda, and the sugar mixture in a large bowl and combine quickly. Dump it on a baking sheet that it lined with wax paper and spread it out.

Allow it to cool completely and break it into bite sized pieces. Eat to your hearts content!