Microwave peanut brittle is an easy 15 minute candy recipe perfect for the holidays. It’s a family favorite sweet at every Christmas!
Easy Homemade Peanut Brittle Recipe
This Microwave Peanut Brittle recipe has been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. My mom makes it every single Christmas and everyone always loves it. It has a light melt in your mouth texture with a sweet and salty flavor that is to die for!
Whether you are making a batch to share with your family at the holidays or looking for an easy homemade gift idea, this microwave peanut brittle is perfection.
Peanut Brittle in the Microwave
I had been telling my mom that she needed to get a new microwave since I was a teenager. It took FOREVER to heat things up. I knew it was old and loosing power but she wouldn’t hear it.
Needless to say, 10 years later when she finally moved to a new home and tried to make her microwave peanut brittle recipe in her new microwave it burnt! The cook time was far too much in a fully powered microwave. HAHA!
The old microwave happened to be located in our basement yet seeing we are the ones who bought their old house. After her first failed attempt, she immediately requested her old microwave back. She could gladly have it.
Now every Christmas season, my Dad has to haul the old microwave upstairs from the basement storage room just so Mom can make her amazing Microwave Peanut Brittle!
Microwave wattage for Peanut Brittle
So this presents an issue that is common with making any sort of desserts in the microwave. Whether you are whipping up a batch of Microwave Caramel Corn or Snack Mix, it is important to have a grasp on the power of your small appliance.
The cooking times for this Microwave Peanut Brittle Recipe are for a 1,000 watt microwave.
If your microwave has a different wattage, keep a close eye and nose during the final steps of cooking. It may take you one or two tries to perfect it depending on the wattage and age of your microwave. As microwaves get older, they tend to loose power.
But once you get the recipe down, tuck it away in a special cookbook and keep it for the life of your microwave, because its that amazing! I promise you it is worth the potential failed attempt, because once you master the cooking times of your microwave, it is such an easy recipe that you can crank out batch after batch with ease.
This may all sound overwhelming, but it really is such an easy recipe. The effort doen’t even compare to how much work it is to make peanut brittle on the stove with a candy thermometer.
How to Make Peanut Brittle in the Microwave
After testing this Microwave Peanut Brittle recipe for my new KitchenAid 1,000 watt microwave multiple times, I am excited to share it with you!
Everything comes together in a glass casserole or mixing bowl. The first step is to stir the corn syrup and granulated sugar together and microwave for 3.5 minutes. Next, stir in peanuts and microwave for 3 more minutes, until light brown. Add the butter and vanilla to mixture and stir until well combined. Microwave for an additional 1.5 minutes.
How do you make Peanut Brittle
You will need to work quickly for the next step, so be sure to have your buttered baking sheet already to go. Add the baking soda to the mixture and gently stir until light and foamy. Do NOT over stir. Only stir enough to mix in the baking soda in, in more of a folding motion.
The baking soda adds air to the mixture, which creates more of that melt in your mouth texture. If you stir too hard or too much, it will break down the air bubbles and the brittle will be thin and hard.
Quickly pour the foamy mixture onto the greased cookie sheet. Do NOT use a spoon to spread the mixture around. Instead, gently rotate the pan to spread the mixture around until it is about 1/2 inch thick.
Let the peanut brittle cool for 1/2 hour. When it is cooled, break the candy into small pieces and store in air-tight container.
Peanut Brittle Candy
I remember the stress of first time I made microwave peanut brittle myself very well. Not only was I worried it wouldn’t turn out like Mom’s, but I stared at the bowl with crusted on caramelized sugar when I was all done and thought “Oh crap, I am never going to get this clean!”
The good news is that you just need to soak your glass bowl with soap and water and it all comes off super easy. Just be sure not to add cold water to a hot glass bowl or you will have broken glass!
More delicious holiday sweets!
If you are looking for more great treats for the holidays, check out some of these fantastic dessert recipes!
- Peppermint Chocolate Candy Cane Cupcakes
- Eggnog Fudge
- Cranberry Orange Custard Pie
- Salted Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Tart
Microwave Peanut Brittle
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup + 2 Tbsp
- 1 1/4 cup roasted salted peanuts
- 1 1/2 tsp. butter
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. baking soda
Instructions
- In a glass 1.5 qt casserole or mixing bowl, stir the corn syrup and granulated sugar together and microwave for 3.5 minutes. Stir in the peanuts and microwave for 3 more minutes until light brown. Add the butter and vanilla to the mixture and stir until well combined. Microwave for an additional 1.5 minutes.
- You will need to work quickly for the next step, so be sure to have your buttered cookie sheet ready to go. Add the baking soda to the mixture and gently stir until light and foamy. Quickly pour the foamy mixture onto the greased cookie sheet.
- Do NOT use a spoon to spread the mixture around. Instead, gently rotate the pan to spread the mixture around until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Work quickly, because it will began hardening very fast.
- Let the peanut brittle cool for at least 1/2 hour or until it is hard and smooth to the touch. When it is cooled, break the candy into small pieces and store in an air-tight container.
Barbara Novak says
So happy to find this recipe! I never liked brittle before because it was so hard. My grandmother gave me her recipe many years ago. Hers was always a delight but difficult for me with the candy thermometer. I compared her recipe to yours and they are identical for ingredients and portions. My microwave is 1100 watts so I knew I would need a very slight adjustment. I set my timer for 3:20 instead of 3.5 minutes and also took the time at the end down to 1:20 instead of 1.5. Everything else remained the same and I folded in the soda as I know that is the secret to the airy, light texture. It is cooling now and looks exactly like my grandmother’s. I also used my very old Corningware 1.5 quart dish. I will be using parchment paper next on my jelly roll sheet as someone posted they used it successfully. I had planned to use this for gifts but just may have to make a lot more as it is going to be too difficult to resist! Thank you so very much.
Danielle Green says
Thank you for sharing your adjustments for your microwave wattage!
Pam B says
This is a great recipe. I did have to cut down the time for my microwave. I love that the brittle is like crispy , crunchy and not the rock hard brjittle many of us know.
Kevin says
Recipe left off step 5 – Throw away bowl after making. Remaining brittle clings like concrete to the bowl.
Otherwise, this is very good and easy to make.
Danielle Green says
Soak it in hot soapy water and it melts right away. I was scared the first time I made it as well and thought I would never get it off the bowl, but it’s amazing how it melts off after a good soak and doesn’t even require scrubbing!
Joyce L Capers says
Love it!! Very good.
Kathleen says
Perfect recipe. Since I make this just for my husband and myself, I make only 1/4 a recipe, and cut the microwave times to about one third. Here’s 1/4 the recipe in grams:
50 g sugar, 45 g corn syrup
46 g peanuts, 1/8 t salt (if using unsalted peanuts, otherwise omit the salt)
½ t butter, ½ t vanilla
¼ t baking soda
Reduce microwave times to about 1/3 of full recipe.
Tee says
This came our great. A little baking soda taste. I may of needed to mix that better. Overall, it was easy to make and taste good.
sherry smith says
oh my goodness what a perfect recipe ! Turned out absolutely delicious ! Didn’t change a thing except i put parchment paper on my cookie sheet instead of spraying, worked like a charm ! Thank you so much for this easy scrumptious treat !
Mary says
Can I use margarine in place of butter?
Danielle Green says
Yes, margarine should be fine.
Marie says
Made 6 batches of this last year and already have folks asking if they are getting some this year! Plan to do 10 batches this time. Also, I used a buttered silpat on a cookie sheet to cool mine. Worked great!
Danielle Green says
Love to hear this!
Jane Kline says
Thank you so much for sharing the tips. I love cooking. Thank you for your valuable post. it’s so useful for everyone.
BAKIng says
My mom used to make peanut brittle every Thanksgiving. Now it’s my turn. First batch yesterday turned out just how I remember mom’s. I used Whey-Low brown sugar-substitute. My wife thinks it’s too chewy, but that’s exactly like I love it (lasts longer as it slowly melts from my side teeth).
Today I added a little less than 1/2 cup juice from candied jalapeños. The extra liquid made it really gummy, so a no go.
Deb says
Just want to add– don’t stir too much or too hard after adding the baking soda. The soda adds air to the mixture, which makes it lighter, less solid to bite, and more “melt-in-your-mouth” as the cell walls are thinner. If you stir TOO much after the soda, you will break down the wonderful air bubbles and your brittle will be more solid and hard to bite.
Danielle Green says
Yes, absolutely! I didn’t think to add this comment as it was just second nature to me, but thanks for pointing that out. I will definitely add it to the post!
Ann winning says
Hi there my microwave is a 900 watt can ŷou tell me time scale for that and is there any chance of recipe in grams please
Danielle Green says
Sorry, I don’t have a 900 watt microwave to test the recipe with, but most likely you will need to add an extra minute. Just keep a close eye on it and make sure it is a nice golden brown before adding the baking soda in the last step.
Jackie Mcfadyen says
If I omit the salt could I use salted cashews?
Danielle Green says
The peanuts are salted, so no need to omit salt unless you just prefer less salt.
Malinda says
First time to make peanut brittle and this was so easy!! Thanks for sharing!
Vicky Jones says
What size cookie sheet are you pouring in onto?
Danielle Green says
I’ve used larger and smaller ones. Heck I even used a pizza pan the other day for my 3rd batch. lol Any pan larger than 9×13 will work.
Donna Darsey says
I cooked it on a 700 watt and times were 4 minutes 3mins, and 3 minutes, came out sticky and chewy? Do I add minutes to all three steps? Or just step one? Thanks
Danielle Green says
700 watts will definitely need a couple extra minutes. I’d add the extra time to the second round and watch closely to the color. Just make sure it doesn’t get dark.
Julie says
Easy and delicious! My kids loved it and I loved how easy it was, thanks for sharing!
Megan says
This was so simple and so delicious! What an easy holiday recipe, I’ll be making a large batch to share with our neighbors this year!
Alison LaFortune says
My kids and I had fun making this to give to the neighbors!