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Dessert

Nut Butter Crisp

A hard candy made from sugar, glucose, molasses, butter, and almonds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,245 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Nut Butter Crisp

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. In a large pot, combine sugar, glucose, and enough water to dissolve them.

  2. Cook the mixture to 300°F (150°C).

  3. Add dark molasses and butter, stirring until the temperature reaches 320°F (160°C).

Set and portion

  1. Quickly add chopped almonds and pour the mixture onto a slab between iron bars.

  2. Mark the mixture with a caramel cutter.

  3. Once cooled, break it into pieces to fit pans and break along the marked lines.

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. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  5. Molasses + almondtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together402 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 brittle base and sets into a crisp, hard texture as it cools.
Glucose
Slows crystallisation so the sugar stays smooth and does not grain.
Dark molasses
Adds colour, depth and a slightly bitter-sweet flavour to the brittle.
Butter
Adds fat for a richer flavour and a tender bite in the set candy.
Chopped almonds
Provide crunch and nutty flavour throughout the brittle.

The step that matters

Stirring in molasses and butter to 320°F (160°C). Sugar syrup must reach the right temperature to set crisp when cooled. Stopping early leaves a soft, sticky result, while overcooking causes bitterness and burning.

“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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