I just want to say straight away that I am not a fan of peanut brittle. Nope. But Macadamia nut brittle is different. It’s on a whole new level to Peanut Brittle. It is addictive and I am warning you now that your waist line could go awry. #justsaying. It’s happened to me.
I first discovered Macadamia Nut Brittle when my friend Lexi, from Ma Mere confections, created her Macadamia Nut Brittle. I bought a few packs of them as Christmas presents because the packaging was beautiful and it was just a sweet little extra something to put in a present. I had no intention of eating them. But then, one afternoon in the office I felt like something sweet and anyway to give you the shortened version, I had to go back to the shops and buy those gifts again.
The moral of the story is don’t buy Christmas presents too early.
So that happened a few times and then I decided to buy non-edible Christmas gifts.
And then, just a few weeks ago, I noticed that one of our favourite places to have breakfast, was selling a Salted Macadamia Nut brittle. I like to support little shops and I really like eating Macadamia nut brittle. So it was a win-win situation.
I then had an epiphany which could only have been derived from the part of my brain not concerned with the width of my waist or thighs.
I can learn to make this stuff all by myself!
And so I did just that. I tried a few different recipes and researched how to make the brittle darker, tastier and more brittle so that it didn’t feel like a hard sweet, but just broke off easily and was easy to chew.
The result is this Salted Macadamia Nut recipe which is so easy, full of flavour and comes together in less than 30 minutes – more like 20-25 minutes. You will need a candy thermometer. I have a digital thermometer which I LOVE!! I just point it at the mixture and it reads the temperature. Don’t attempt doing it without a thermometer because the candy has to reach 148°C which is the hard-crack stage of candy making, and makes the brittle brittle!
Salted Macadamia Nut Brittle
- Total Time: 25 mins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 cup glucose syrup
- 1 cup chopped Macadamia Nuts (I make mine heaped! and I use raw nuts)
- 2 tablespoons butter (I make it heaped too!)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Instructions
- Grease a rectangular cake / brownie tin – Don’t line it with wax paper as the brittle will stick to it. Just grease it.
- Get all your ingredients measured and ready as you will need to work quickly at the end of this recipe
- Over low heat, add the brown sugar, white sugar, salt, water and glucose syrup to a thick-bottomed sauce pan and allow ingredients to dissolve
- Bring the mixture to a boil and do not stir. The temperature needs to increase to 143°C (290°F) which will take 10-15 minutes. A candy thermometer will come in real handy right now. I use a digital thermometer which I bought on Amazon – its amazing.
- Once the mixture has reached 143°C, add the macadamia nuts in and stir to coat them.
- Continue to boil and once the mixture reaches 148°C (300°F), take it off the heat, and add the butter, baking soda and vanilla essence and stir in well.
- Pour into the greased cake tin and use two forks to spread the brittle out (otherwise it will be quite thick.)
- Allow to cool for 30 minutes and then break apart and enjoy or package in an airtight container for later.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
