I know I've only just arrived here at The Kitchn and I was raised to always be a polite guest, but I'm going to start this guest post out on a note that could ruffle some feathers. I'm a mug of spiked hot mulled cider in and I'm feeling a little daring, so here goes nothing: I don't much like Christmas cookies. Blasphemous, I know. Especially for a food blogger. Writing a holiday guest post. Mere days before Christmas.
In my defense, I do love the ritual of making Christmas cookies. I comb through recipes, leaning heavily on veteran favorites, but also scouring for a few rookie recipes to audition. I dutifully stockpile pound after pound of butter, I amass dozens of eggs, I stock sacks of flour and sugar in the cupboard until they sit three-deep. I preheat the oven, line the cookie sheets with silpats, fire up the mixer, and scoop/stamp out/roll/twist/press/slice. And then, of course, I bake — sliding in a tray dotted with dough, letting the oven door snap shut, shuttling the piping hot baked cookies from oven to cooling rack. It goes on like this for hours-long stretches of December afternoons, until I've got dozens of cookies lined up on my kitchen counter.
By this time, I've had just about enough of Christmas cookies, so I slip the cookies into glassine bags or tuck them into tin canisters. And then I give those bags and tins away at very single chance I get. I'd like to think it's goodwill or the giving spirit or some such altruistic aim, but really I'm just trying to get rid of the things — and fast.
Of course, this leaves me Christmas-cookied-out at the exact moment that Christmas arrives. Just when I can't bear the sight of another crinkle or cut-out cookie, trays of the specimens lurk around every turn. Faced with this conundrum, I scour the cookie trays for the odd piece of candy — little cubes of fudge, cocoa-dusted truffles, powdery marshmallows or, most of all, brittle.
At my parents' house during the holidays, I can always rest assured that a little bowl full of my grandpa's peanut brittle will sit alongside the plates of cookies. Year in and year out, it's my favorite Christmas treat of all. His brittle is light in color — a blonde caramel, nearly translucent, thin, and studded with cocktail peanuts. The brittle pictured in this post was inspired by my grandpa's brittle, but, in the end, it's much different. This one is thicker and darker, spotted with green-skinned pistachios rather than peanuts. It skirts the razor's-edge between burnt and not and it benefits from a sparkle of flaky fleur del sel. Really, the only thing it has in common with Grandpa's recipe is the name: brittle. Oh, and I absolutely love them both.
As luck would have it, the brittle is just as fun to make as the cookies (and a nice break from the oven-to-cooling-rack merry-go-round). You start by coaxing a potful of butter, sugar, water and corn syrup into a dark bubbling caramel. Into that goes barely more than a pinch of baking soda, which causes the caramel to foam and froth. This is when the toffee is ready to accept those pistachios and then spill onto a baking sheet, where it hardens into a big sheet of brittle. Best of all, when the brittle is set, have at it: break the sheet into shards, sending splinters of toffee flying in every direction.
The result is a haphazard pile of shiny chips that remind me a little of stained glass. You know, if stained glass were made of butter and sugar and could be melted upon the tongue. It's gorgeous — and delicious, too. So delicious, in fact, that you won't miss the cookies a bit.
Salted Pistachio Brittle
Adapted from Food & Wine's Best-Ever Nut Brittle
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 ounces shelled pistachios
Fleur de sel or crushed Maldon sea salt
In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, water, butter and corn syrup and bring to a boil. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is deep amber and has the very first hints of a lightly burnt aroma (about 10 minutes). Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the baking soda. The mixture will bubble. Stir in the pistachios, then immediately scrape the brittle onto a large rimmed, nonstick baking sheet. Using the back of a large spoon or an offset spatula (oil it lightly if it sticks), spread the brittle into a thin, even layer. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Break the brittle into large shards.
• See more 2009 Holiday Guest Posts here
(Images: Kristin of The Kitchen Sink)
© 2010 Apartment Therapy
this looks delicious and easy to make vegan. i'm making this for my office tomorrow!!
view a_difabio's profile
oh man. THANK YOU! I'm making this today, and it looks absolutely incredible!
view lunafaerie5's profile
the green pistachio and caramel colors are a nice combination . that cross-section is striking.
view art's profile
Oh my god, this looks so good, I just added pistachios to the grocery list I am currently writing. Making this TONIGHT.
view eve804's profile
Can I make brittle poured into silicone pans? I've just moved and brought along plenty of space-saving silicone bakeware, but the metal pans are still in the black hole of boxes. Would this mixture melt my pretty orange silicone?? I'd love to make this my holiday contribution as it would be perfect to make in our transition phase.
view mimee23's profile
**sauteed in a metal pan and poured onto a silicone pan to cool, that is.
view mimee23's profile
i made this recipe from food & wine and it turned out so well. i also made one with crushed walnuts and banana extract. yum
view petrichorlady's profile
Mimee23:
If you have enough room in your pan for the caramel portion (remember, it WILL bubble up with the baking soda) then this should be fine. I assume your silicone is bakeware. Your silicone bakeware is probably safe up to temperatures in the upper 400-lower 500 degree range (but please check), and this sugar mixture won't be nearly that hot. Shouldn't be a problem.
view heartmignardise's profile
masterfully-written post, kristen! i enjoyed reading every descriptive phrase, and the pictures of your delicious treat didn't hurt my feelings either. :)
view southerngrace's profile
Mimee23-
I've made brittle in a metal baking tin line with my silpat. It turned out just fine... so I think the silicone bakeware would work.
view InTheSnowta's profile
Excellent! Thanks so much, my silicone bakeware is safe up to 475 degrees so I'm all set.
view mimee23's profile
I made these last night, but they didn't get quite that dark. Can you give us the candy-making temperature that these should cook to? Mine are crisp and buttery and pretty tasty overall, but not nearly as gorgeous as these! I'm sure I wasn't quite to the right candy-making temp, so any advice is much appreciated.
view amber77's profile
How long will the brittle keep? Also, can I line my cookie sheet with lightly buttered parchment paper?
view imgould's profile
WOW! That looks amazing! Thanks so much for this, I'll be linking in my next Edible Gift Roundup. I hope someone makes me this. =)
view oneprettything's profile
i made these last night! they are wonderful! make sure you add enough salt. Without it, it is a bit bland.
Thank you Kristen!!!
view shutterbean's profile
Just made this, it is incredible!
imgould, I used unbuttered parchment paper and it worked beautifully. My melting pot and utensils are a big mess, though.
Any tips for cleaning up the hardened remains?
view clamlab's profile
Cleaning up sugar? Here ya go:
How To Clean the Pot After Boiling Sugar
view Faith Durand's profile
Thanks, everyone!
amber77: The original recipe specifies a temperature of 300 degrees, though I tend to go more by aroma (here, you should just begin to smell burnt caramel) and appearance (here, you're looking for a dark amber).
imgould: In an airtight container, the brittle will last at least a couple weeks.
shutterbean: Totally agree -- the salt is key.
clamlab: The hardened remains (on the pot and spoon) should chip right off once hardened (maybe using the back of the spoon for the task). If that doesn't work, soak the tools in a very hot water. The hardened bits will dissolve and become easier to remove.
So glad that some of you have tried this!!
view kristinsilverman's profile
Just finished making and didn't have enough pistachios so i used half pistachio and half raw almonds chopped up, turned out very yummy
view tothectothec's profile
I just finished making these and it ended up taking a bit longer for the caramel to get dark - almost 20 minutes. It went from a light amber to a dark amber very quickly so be sure to watch it after 10 mins
view Britty's profile
Do you use unsalted or salted pistachios? Does it make a difference?
view potluckorchard's profile
potluckorchard - I wondered the same thing. I feel like most of the pistachios I see in stores are salted, but then there's salt in the recipe as well, so I'm wondering.
view ericb's profile
Yes, please! I also need to know about the salted/unsalted pistachios. I want to make a few batches of this to take to homes we will be visiting on Christmas Eve, but at the store I only saw roasted, salted shelled pistachios and so I am not sure if they would be overly salty with those plus the salt in the recipe.
view pearlrae's profile
@potluckorchard & pearlrae -
I consulted the Google and found the original food & wine recipe here
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/best-ever-nut-brittle
Looks like salted and roasted pistachios it is.
view ericb's profile
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