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Peanut Candy

A sweet candy made from molasses, sugar, peanuts, baking soda, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Peanut Candy

Why it works: Molasses and sugar 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 Candy

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine molasses and sugar in a large pot and bring to a boil.

  2. Continue boiling until the mixture reaches a brittle stage when tested in water.

  3. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda.

  4. Break peanuts into the mixture and mix well.

  5. Pour the mixture into a buttered tin.

  6. Allow to cool slightly, then cut into 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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Molasses + sugartop 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

Molasses
Provides the dark color, rich flavor and sweetness that form the candy base.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and, when boiled, hardens as the candy sets.
Peanuts
Supply crunch and nutty flavor throughout the brittle candy.
Baking soda
Reacts with the hot syrup to create gas bubbles that lighten the brittle's texture.
Butter
Greases the tin so the set candy releases cleanly.

The step that matters

Boiling to the brittle stage. Boiling the sugar and molasses until it reaches the brittle stage is what makes the candy crisp and firm once cooled. Stopping too early leaves it sticky or chewy, while boiling too long can scorch it and give a bitter taste.

Swap the peanut

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, sugar, 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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