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Dessert

Peanut Chips

A sweet snack made by coating roasted peanuts with a sugar molasses syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Peanut Chips

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, glucose, water, and molasses.

  2. Heat the mixture to 310°F (154°C).

Add the peanuts

  1. Once the mixture reaches the desired temperature, remove it from heat.

  2. Stir in the roasted peanuts until well coated.

Cool and break

  1. Pour the mixture onto a greased surface and allow it to cool.

  2. Once cooled, break into chips.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + peanuttop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,545 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Molasses + peanuttop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together115 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Common sugar
Provides the main sweetness and sets firm as the mixture cools.
Glucose
Inhibits crystallization, keeping the candy smooth rather than grainy.
Molasses
Adds depth of flavor and color, and some moisture to the candy.
Roasted peanuts
Add crunch and nutty flavor to the set candy.

The step that matters

Heating to 310°F (154°C). The sugar must reach this temperature to reach the hard-crack stage, so the candy sets firm and brittle once cooled. Removing it too early leaves chips that are soft or sticky.

Swap the peanut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Chestnutfits better
  3. Beansfits better
  4. Peanutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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