Toasted Cashew and Bacon Brittle Recipe
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Just give in to your inner hedonist and enjoy this addictive, nowhere-near-healthy snack.
What to buy: Different brands of bacon vary quite a bit in their salt content, so you may want to adjust the amount of salt you add to the brittle accordingly.
Special equipment: A reliable candy/fat thermometer is crucial for getting an accurate read on the caramel.
Game plan: The brittle can be made up to 2 days ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
This recipe was featured as part of our Sexy Vampire Halloween Party photo gallery.
INGREDIENTS
- 2/3 cup raw cashews (about 4 ounces)
- 8 ounces bacon
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the middle. While the oven is heating, place cashews on a baking sheet and toast in the oven, stirring occasionally, until deep brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Cool slightly on a cutting board, then coarsely chop; set aside.
- When the oven is ready, place bacon on a baking sheet and roast until deep brown and well done, about 15 minutes. Remove to a paper-towel-lined plate to cool; reserve 1 tablespoon of the rendered bacon fat. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, coat the paper with a thin layer of the reserved fat, and place the baking sheet on a cooling rack. Crumble bacon into bite-sized pieces; set aside.
- Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan over high heat and stir until sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally (do not stir), until mixture is deep amber and registers 350°F on a candy thermometer, about 10 to 15 minutes. Immediately remove the pan from heat.
- Carefully add cashews, bacon, and salt to the caramel and stir to combine. Immediately pour mixture onto the center of the prepared baking sheet. Let sit at room temperature until hardened, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely, then break into shards.
Don't put brittle in the refrigerator! It will get gummy. Keep it in an airtight container on the counter. I'd stir the bacon into the sugar instead of pouring it over to make sure it's well covered. I also use 1 tsp of soda in my brittle, and I make mine in the microwave. No annoying candy thermometer!
I wonder how long this would last in a fridge.
The bacon part is what makes me wonder, though if well coated in the candy I suppose it could last a week or two, maybe?
Any guesses?
I am talking about soda in the above post
Whenever I make peanut brittle or macadamia brittle I always add about a tsp and a quarter at the very end. I stir it very rapidly and pour it out onto a warm. vegetable sprayed cookie pan. It doesn't affect the taste but makes it spread very easily. Incidentally I have taken first place at county fairs using this method
This is great! Everyone is loving it. However, I would not add bacon fat to the parchment paper. I ended up with cold fat puddles in the brittle. It doesn't look appetizing at all and it doesn't taste very good either. So just leave that part out. It comes off the paper easily enough or use a bit of oil spray.
Cheers!
I think everyone is right. I've made a number of brittle batches, some with lemon and soda, some with karo and soda and vanilla, some with cider and soda, but sometimes, I use only 4 ingredients: salt, sugar, water, and nut. I've even made it with no candy thermometer, just watching the color of the caramel. Basically,the simpler the recipe, the thinner you're going to want to spread the candy. If you put in soda with no acidic ingredient, I don't think that you will get too far making the airy, ,lighter type of brittle, which can also be made thicker (and in my opinion, might be better for a baking sheet. The harder, thin kind of brittle is best made on a larger surface so that you can get it thin).
For semame brittle, I actually think it would be best to NOT add any soda and acid, but instead, get it really thin. I also would NOT add the bacon to that version.
Here is a great resource I just found which explains the things I'm trying to explain, but much better, and gives a lot of good brittle recipes:
http://www.pastrysampler.com/Question...
Sesame brittle is delicious, but Meow and Amribor are right. This brittle needs some soda! Otherwise it's just bacon cashew hard candy.
I think you are right Meow, it needs some sort of soda to give it some air or I would think this could be used as a doorstop. Perhaps a salty sweet doorstop but still a doorstop!
I think I will try this with pecans.
Doesn't there need to be some soda and acid in this or it's just a big slab of sugar?
i've never made brittle before, but i've got one of those huge tubs of sesame seeds just hanging out in the fridge. any experienced brittle makers think this would work with sesame seeds? can i marinate the bacon in soy sauce/sesame oil first and add a bit of sriracha? dang this is sounding better and better!