Why it works: Sugar and peanut are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 27% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,545 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Peanut Brittle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Break the peanuts into pieces the size of half a pea and sift, saving the siftings.
Make the brittle
Put 1 pound of sugar in an iron saucepan over medium heat and stir until melted and light brown, being careful not to burn.
Quickly mix in half of the peanuts and pour onto a board dusted with the siftings.
Roll into a very thin sheet and mark into squares with a large knife.
After a few moments, break apart.
Repeat the process with the remaining pound of sugar and the rest of the peanuts.
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.
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Sugar + peanuttop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,545 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Granulated sugar
- Melts to form the brittle's hard, glassy candy base as it caramelizes.
- Peanuts
- Provide crunch and nutty flavor embedded throughout the set candy.
The step that matters
Stirring the melted sugar. Sugar can scorch quickly once melted and turns bitter when burnt. Stirring over medium heat only until it is light brown keeps the caramel flavor clean and the brittle from tasting acrid.
“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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