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
Make the brittle
In an iron saucepan, melt 1 lb of sugar over medium heat, stirring until it slightly browns.
Stir in enough peanuts to absorb the sugar.
Pour the mixture into a greased tin.
Variations
For variations, use blanched almonds, walnuts, or pecans, chopped very fine.
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
- Sugar
- Melts and caramelizes to form the brittle's hard, brittle, sweet candy base.
- Peanuts
- Add crunch and body, and absorb the caramelized sugar to bind the mixture.
The step that matters
Melting and browning the sugar. Sugar melts, then caramelizes as it heats. Stirring keeps it from scorching unevenly, and stopping at a slight brown gives a clean flavor and a brittle set.
“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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