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Dessert

Butter Peanut

A hard candy made from sugar, glucose, water, peanuts, molasses, butter, and carbonated soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 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 ↓

Butter Peanut

Ingredients

Directions

Make the candy

  1. In a kettle, combine sugar, glucose, and water.

  2. Cook the mixture to hard crack stage, about 290°F (143°C).

  3. Remove from heat and stir in molasses, butter, and carbonated soda.

Finish

  1. Pour the mixture onto a slab and cut into small squares.

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. Peanut + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,754 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Molasses + buttertop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,123 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Forms the main body of the candy and provides most of its sweetness.
Glucose
Interferes with sugar crystallization, keeping the candy smooth rather than grainy.
Peanuts
Add nutty flavor and crunch to the finished candy.
Molasses
Adds depth of flavor and a darker color.
Butter
Adds fat for richer flavor and a softer bite.
Carbonated soda
Releases gas into the hot mixture, lightening its texture.

The step that matters

Cook to hard crack stage, about 290°F (143°C). Sugar syrup firms as its water boils off, and the temperature determines the final texture. Stopping early leaves the candy soft and sticky, while overcooking makes it bitter and dark.

Swap the peanut

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

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Pecansfits better
  3. Walnutfits about as well
  4. Peanutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, butter. 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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