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Peanut Candy

A sweet candy made from molasses, brown sugar, butter, vinegar, and peanuts.

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

Prepare

  1. Remove shells and skins from the peanuts.

  2. Place the peanuts on buttered baking sheets.

Make the candy

  1. Combine molasses, brown sugar, butter, and vinegar in a shallow pan.

  2. Cook over medium heat.

  3. Test the candy by dropping a small amount into cold water until it hardens and becomes crisp.

  4. Remove the mixture from heat.

Finish and cut

  1. Pour the candy over the peanuts.

  2. Cut into small blocks while still warm.

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. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Butter + peanuttop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,754 recipes

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

  4. Vinegar + peanuttop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together443 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

New orleans molasses
Provides the main flavour and dark colour, and adds sweetness and moisture to the candy.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the candy set firm as it cooks and cools.
Peanuts
Provide the crunchy texture and nutty flavour that the candy is poured over.
Vinegar
Adds a little acidity, which helps prevent sugar from crystallising during cooking.

The step that matters

Test the candy in cold water. Cooking the sugar mixture to the right point decides whether the candy sets crisp or stays sticky. Dropping a small amount into cold water shows whether it has reached hard-crack stage, so the candy hardens as expected. Removing it from heat at the right time matters just as much.

Swap the peanut

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

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Beansfits about as well
  3. Sesamefits about as well
  4. Peanutthe original

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